Bloodlust
by keindahaha
Summary: Ushio will be transferred to Houshinoumi Academy. But why? And will she survive in the school? Find out more! Happy New Year, Everyone! A new update in this festive moment!
1. Chapter 1

"Papa, Mama, I want to ask you something." Ushio started to talk while eating her dinner.

"What is it, Ushio?" Tomoya asked her only daughter.

"Do you know I will be transferred to another high school in full scholarship in my second year?" She asked her parents shyly.

* * *

Bloodlust

By : keindahaha

A Crossover Story of Clannad and Charlotte

* * *

How Ushio could be in this mess? She was quiet normal while starting high school in Hikariza High School. But one day in the end of her first year, she knew them all. She could make an instant energy surge to fight back that lasts for 5 minutes. But after that, she must wait for another day to do that again with extreme exhaustion. So, this is what happened.

Ushio walked to her home alone after school. She was doing some paperwork for theater club reports. It was the last week of school so she must finished them all soon. She didn't know that she was followed by unknown man.

"Hey, girl! Where are you going?" He said from behind.

Ushio looked behind and saw a creepy man blocked the way back. Then she saw another two men blocked the way in front. She was trapped. The creepy men walked closer to her so she didn't have anywhere to escape.

"Why do you walk alone, girl? Such a waste for a pretty girl like you." One of the men walked closer to her and touched her face. She flinched.

"Heh… This one is a hard one, huh." He said as the two other men closed any escape door available. She was trapped.

"Well, then walk with me. Heheh…" One man grabbed her wrist forcefully and started to drag her but she just stood there.

Suddenly, she felt a danger within her. Something happened to her. Her eyes turned into a blood red. She could feel every muscle in her body tensed. She felt multiple times more powerful.

"Don't…" she said in a small voice.

"Hee? What do you say? You don't want to go, huh? Then how do you feel about this?" A heavy punch started to fly straight to her.

Everything went slow for Ushio, she saw the punch right away and easily evade them. Her evasive movement made the man punched directly to another man.

"What? Impossible!? She was too fast to see!"

Ushio started to pull her hand and clenched them tightly ready for a powerful punch. She threw a fast and powerful punch to a man's face.

"I SAID DON'T!" She roared.

"Urgh!" He fell unconscious.

The two men left rushed to attack her with knives. She easily evades them and tackled them until they fell and hit their head to the solid concrete ground.

"Uargh…" Now it's Ushio's chance to run.

So, Ushio ran as fast as she could do. She ran so fast that any regular eyes couldn't see her movements. She finally reached her home. It was once her grandfather's house until Tomoya, her father, decided to move in so he could take care of this house for his father. Ushio forcefully opened the door.

"I'm Home!" She entered the house while catching her breaths and wiping her sweats.

"Shio-chan? What happened to you?" Her mother greeted her and came after her. Nagisa saw her now red eyes slowly turned into her normal brownish eyes.

"Mama…" Ushio started to fell unconscious.

Nagisa caught Ushio's body and dragged her slowly to her bed and let her rest. Nagisa checked her body temperature and it was normal. She let a relieved sigh. Ushio just exhausted. Nagisa knew that Ushio is a very active girl since she was little. Ushio even attended two clubs and those are basketball club and newly established theater club.

Nagisa changed Ushio's clothes and briefly examined her uniform. Nagisa felt uncertain. Those eyes turned into a red blood color. She could see a little red stain on her uniform. It's blood. She was very certain of that. But Nagisa knew that today was not Ushio's period day. What happened?

"DING DONG…" The bell rang.

Nagisa quickly got the door and saw one of the neighbors, Okuda Inari.

"Okuda-san, is there something I could help?" Nagisa asked her.

"Okazaki-san? Is Shio-chan okay? I saw her fighting with some men on her way home. She was running so fast that I could not catch up to her." She asked Nagisa.

"Fighting?" Nagisa asked her.

"I think they are three men from the perv gang who has harassed so many teenagers around. The police had arrested them for good now after Ushio made them fell into unconscious. Maybe, the perv wants to harass Ushio before it was happened."

"Ushio is okay. She is now sleeping. Maybe, she's too tired." Nagisa said to her.

"Thank god, now please excuse me, Okazaki-san." Her neighbor walked to her home.

Her concern was true. She knew it. She walked to her daughter's room and entered. She sat on her bed and wait until Ushio woke up.

"Mama…" Ushio opened her eyes and started to talk.

"Shio-chan, what happened to you?" Nagisa asked her.

"Perv gang, three of them. They were trying to lure me to their trap. And it was happening so fast. I didn't know what's happening to me, Mama." She started to open up.

"My mind was blurred. It seemed like rage. But I think it's not, Mama. There's no rage triggered so easily. It was different. What I have in mind only to fight and escape." She continued.

"Mama, I'm scared." Ushio's body started to tremble. "Can I cry?" She asked her.

Nagisa embraced her daughter so she could cry in her mother's arms. This was very scary for her. Nagisa knew it. After a long time, Ushio stopped to cry and slept in her mother's lap.

"Knock… Knock…" A soft knock on Ushio's door.

"Come in…" It was Tomoya.

"What happened to Ushio?" Tomoya asked.

"I don't know, Tomoya-kun. I heard from our neighbor Okuda-san, she was involved in a fight with three men from perv gang. She got home, drenched in sweat and directly fell unconscious." She said.

"Her eyes. They were red as blood before she fell unconscious." She continued.

"There's definitely something happened to her." Tomoya said as he caressed his daughter's hair.

"What should we do, Tomoya-kun?" Nagisa asked him.

"RIIIING… RIIIING…" The phone rang loudly.

"I get that." Tomoya walked to the phone and got it.

"Okazaki here. Is there anything I could help?"

"This is Tomori Nao from Houshinoumi Academy Student Council. Is this Okazaki Ushio's parent or guardian?"

* * *

Tomoya did as Tomori said. He will keep this as secret and agreed to transfer Ushio to Houshinoumi Academy for her safety. Houshinoumi Academy is a newly established school in the town near Hikariza. Ushio will live alone but at least safe in a condo near the school. Tomoya asked Nagisa's opinion and Nagisa accepted.

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Okazaki, Let us do the announcement for her. She won't easily agree to transfer. But let us "persuade" her." It was the last sentence Tomori said before she hung up.

* * *

"Mama, Papa, I'm going!" Ushio said as she exited the door.

"Okay, be careful, Ushio!" Nagisa and Tomoya said as the same time.

Ushio walked to the school quietly. She remembered everything from yesterday and felt anxious about that. How could she become that strong even she could beat three men from perv gang? Moreover she felt someone following her since she left her home.

"Good morning, Shio-chan!" One of her friend greeted her.

"Good morning!" she replied.

"I heard you were involved with a fight against the perv gang, is that true?"

Ushio cursed the power of small town and gossip. This was bad.

"Hmm… Somehow like that." She replied as ambiguous as she could to avoid the gossip getting worse and worse.

"By the way, gotta go! I got something involved the club I need to finish first before the class started!" Ushio laid and dashed quickly. She knew someone who followed her has becoming so much closer.

Ushio ran until she found herself behind the school. It was perfect so she could face the one followed her unnoticed. She readied herself in fighting stance. Being an active girl, she has taken martial arts class.

"Hey, show yourself! I know you have followed me since this morning!" She shouted.

Suddenly she felt a whoosh of air close to her. She readied herself and kicked everything that was in front of her. It still not down. Suddenly it came to her. She pulled and clenched her hand. The ground where she stood suddenly shattered as like some heavy gravity affected the ground. Her eyes turned into red. She suddenly could see the one who charged at her. She was going to throw a sweet powerful punch to his stomach but stopped as someone hugged her from behind.

"Listen to me! Relax and breath! Hear my heartbeat and calm down!" A voice from someone who hugged her instructed her.

His voice made her flinch. It was calming her. She tried so bad to calm down and relax. She knew the man who hugged her was strong as he could hold her back. She finally calmed herself down and started to fell into unconscious.

"Takajo, please hold her. We took her to the infirmary." A girl said to the man who held Ushio.

"Hah, she almost got me there. Thanks man." Another man said.

"Is she okay? Yusarin worried about her." Another girl said before Ushio completely lose her consciousness.

* * *

Ushio started to wake up. She felt so fresh like nothing happened. She knew she was in school's infirmary. She noticed four people standing around the bed she was on. She knew they were not from Hikariza High School as they wear different uniforms.

"What happened? Is "it" happened again? And who are you?" She asked them.

"For starter, that was "Bloodlust". That was your ability and that was actually a sickness. My name is Tomori Nao from Houshinoumi Academy student council and I used to have an ability." A girl with white hair said.

"I am Otosaka Yuu, owner of over thousands of ability but I couldn't take any ability anymore because that will cause a major damage to my brain. By the way, you were almost got me earlier." A one-eyed boy said. Then Ushio knew that boy was the one who charged her.

"Ah, Yusarin!" Ushio said spontaneously.

"Yes, I am Kurobane Yusa! You can call me Yusarin!" Yusa said.

Then Ushio looked into the last person. He was the one who successfully calmed her down with his voice and strong arms. She blushed when she remembered him hugged her.

"Oh, I'm Takajo Jojiro. I'm sorry for holding you like that before." He said to her with the same voice he used while calmed Ushio.

"Ah, it's okay. And thank you for holding me back there. I don't know what will happen if you didn't stop me." Ushio said forming a little smile.

"Probably Otosaka will stay in hospital for months." Takajo said to her while replying her smile.

"On top of that, I will tell and ask you something. As I said earlier, your ability is a sickness that will fade away after you graduated from high school. But since Otosaka here could not take abilities anymore to prevent brain damage, I will ask you to transfer to Houshinoumi Academy on your second year and so on. We need you to stay under our supervision and work for us." Tomori said to her.

"And what's in for me then?" Ushio asked them.

"You will receive a full scholarship and free accommodation. Plus if you work for us, I am sure you will be paid well. Well, you don't want to be a lab rat and suffered, right? Your parents love you so much, right? They have agreed to this for your safety." She said.

Hearing that even her parents agreed, she could not say no to them. Plus they have so much effort to bring her there and almost made Otosaka injured.

"Tsk… You talk like I have so many options. Fine then, I agreed to transfer but in one condition." Ushio said.

"What is it, Okazaki?" Tomori asked her.

"You must ensure my parent's safety. They love this town so I don't want my parents to go with me." Ushio said.

* * *

"Yes, we do know. One of the school attendant called us earlier and told us about that." Tomoya said.

"We will start to move your belongings tomorrow. So, don't wake up late, Shio-chan." Her mother gave her a pat on her head.

"I won't, Mama. And don't worry, I promise to be a good girl." Ushio said as she knew she will miss this moment forever after.

* * *

A/N : I need a beta-reader for this story, the description is in my profile if you interested...


	2. Chapter 2

"What a huge condo…" Ushio said when she arrived at the condo near Houshinoumi Academy.

She entered the condo and began to search for her room. She found her room and entered it. It was huge, bigger than the one when she was a little. It looked very cozy and nice. Ushio and her parents started to put in her things to this room. She saw one of the Big Dango Family brought by her mother.

"Mama, are you sure you want me to keep one of your Dango?" Ushio asked her mother.

"There's three dangos. And that means one dango for each one of our big family." Nagisa said in her sweet voice that made Ushio's smile grew wider.

"And who knows if you miss us so much…" Tomoya said with a cheeky grin. Ushio felt her face getting hot as blush cover her face from embarrassment. She threw a little fist to her father that made her father let out a laughter. She indeed will miss her family.

"DING… DONG…" The bell rang loudly.

"I will get it." Tomoya walked towards the door to open it.

In front of the door there were two boys and two girls. They wore same uniforms. Tomoya assumed they were from Houshinoumi Academy. And Yusarin?

"Ah, you must be Mr. Okazaki. Nice to meet you, sir." The girl with white hair said and bowed.

"Yes, nice to meet you, too." Tomoya said.

"Who is it, Tomoya-kun?" Nagisa asked her husband.

"Oh, you must be Mrs. Okazaki. We are from Houshinoumi Academy student council. My name is Tomori Nao, the current student council president. You must have known her, right? Yes, she is Nishimori Yusa. The one eyed there is Otosaka Yuu and the one with glasses is Jojiro Takajo. It's our pleasure to meet you." They bowed together.

"Is there anything we could help?" Nagisa asked them.

"Actually, we are here to help. Since Okazaki-san just moved, Okazaki-san may need many help to settle things in her room." Tomori said.

"Who is it, Papa? Huh? It's you guys! What are you doing?" Ushio shocked to see the guys who made her agree to transfer.

"So, you actually have met them, Shio-chan? They looked like good guys. By the way, we'll be glad if lend your help around here." Tomoya said.

* * *

"You actually have nice parents, Okazaki. No doubt you have so much concern for their safety." Takajo said while he and Ushio taking care things in the bedroom.

"Thanks. They were raising me with so much love and passion. I heard that Mama once had a great sickness that could not be cured before I was born into this world. After she was giving birth me, the sickness was gone like never been there. They took me as their blessing and I was grateful about that." She said to Takajo like she trusted him so much.

"Ah, I'm sorry. If I'm talking about my parents, I could not hold myself back." She was blushing.

"No problem. I was the one who brought you into the topic." Takajo said.

"By the way, how do you become so powerful that you could hold my bloodlust like yesterday?" Ushio asked with blush on her cheeks.

"Well, I was an ability wielder, too. Just like you. My ability was teleportation or should I say moving instantly to different places. It was so imperfect that I could not stop myself on the spot I want. I ended up injured badly. So, I built some muscles to protect myself. After Otosaka took my ability, I could not stop my habit to exercise. Besides, it's a good habit, right?" He said to her.

"Aaand… it's done. Is it okay for me to put this here?" Takajo asked her referring to the Dango plushy Ushio's mother brought.

"It's okay. Make sure I could see the Dango. Umm… I want to ask again, one more time." She said.

"Well, maybe it's time for you to wait for the answers when you have entered the school." Takajo gave her a smile.

Ushio blushed as she saw the sweet smile of him. She never realized her father was behind her.

"Takajo-kun, Shio-chan, dinner's ready. Let's eat together." Tomoya said.

The food is already set on the table with Nagisa, Tomori, Otosaka, and Yusa already sitting around the table.

"Come on, sit. We have been waiting for you." Nagisa said.

"Itadakimasu…" they said as they began to eat.

"Whoah… This is delicious!" Yusa said.

"Thank you, Yusa-chan. It's just a regular cooking." Nagisa said.

"By the way, thank you for helping us here. We really appreciate your help. Please take care of our daughter, Ushio." Tomoya said while looking to Takajo. Why Takajo?

"Don't worry, Mr. Okazaki. We will take care of her and make sure she is safe." Takajo said.

"By the way, you haven't told me about Houshinoumi Academy. Could you tell me a little?" Ushio asked.

"Well, because we assume your parents have known about your "bloodlust" ability, we will tell you. Houshinoumi Academy is a magnet school for university for starter. But behind that, the school is some kind of a refuge for teenagers with abilities just like you. Not like you, the school student's abilities have been taken by Yuu-kun here. But he couldn't do that anymore. He reached his limit." Tomori explained.

"The school is so much fun! The friends, the teacher, and the student council president who has taken the job as president for two years are a lot of fun!" Yusa said.

"Shush… Don't say that two years thing." Tomori said.

"Two years?" Nagisa asked.

"Well, since the school is quiet new, they appointed Tomori for the student council. In the second year, all of the students agreed that Tomori should continue her reign." Takajo explained.

"Wow, that's great. Ushio, you should be an activist like them!" Tomoya said to his daughter.

"Hee… I don't know if I could do that." Ushio said shyly.

"Well, do you all want to know a story of a student council president back when Ushio's mother and father still in high school?" Tomoya asked and he started to tell them a story about Sakagami Tomoyo.

* * *

"Mama, Papa, I will take them out now. Be right back!" Ushio said as she exited the door with the student council members.

"Okay, so we will get going. If you need help or something, just knocked this doors." Tomori handed a paper with door numbers on it.

"See you, at the first day of school!" Tomori said and they all left except for one person.

"Takajo-san, why don't you go home?" Ushio asked him.

"Actually, I live next to your room. And there's something I want to talk." Takajo said.

"Talk? What is it?"

"Nah, probably it's not important, so, never mind." He said.

"Don't say it. Come on, just open up." Ushio said.

"Well, I never felt this warmth again for years. The warmth of a family. I kinda miss this thing. So, thank you very much, Okazaki-san." He said and gave her a smile.

"You should come here if my parents come to visit me." Ushio said.

"Huh?" Takajo looked puzzled.

"Yes, come to have a dinner with us when my parents are coming to visit me. My parents should be very happy of visitors. They always do." Ushio said to him.

"Well, that should be great. Tell me if your parents come to visit you. I will come if I'm not busy, kay?" Takajo made a sly smile.

"Okay, by the way I gotta go. My parents should be searching for me. See you, Takajo-san!" Ushio said and hurriedly entered her room.

"See you, too, Okazaki-san." Takajo watched her entering her room. He leaned and saw the stars. It was uniquely beautiful that day.

* * *

"I'm home..." Ushio said after she closed the door behind her.

"Welcome back..." Nagisa replied.

Ushio sat on the sofa and let out a sigh. Nagisa came with cups of tea and sat next to her. Tomoya followed Nagisa behind.

"Well, they were the ones who convinced me to transfer to Houshinoumi Academy." Ushio started.

"No doubt you wanted to transfer badly." Tomoya said with a teasing tone.

"W… Wh… Why do you say that, Papa?" Ushio started to blush.

"My guess is the one with glasses, right? Takajo-kun, isn't he?" Tomoya continued to tease her daughter.

"It's… It's not like that, Papa!" Ushio started to deny.

"Well then, what is it like?" Tomoya could not hold his laughter any longer. Nagisa gave them a small laugh as she saw her daughter being teased by her father. Ushio just hoped that Takajo wasn't hear anything from next door.

"Anyway, because I will starting the school in next term, the school demands me to have supplementary lessons so I could catch up with what's going on in the school. So, I'm sorry I couldn't go home this break. But, I promise I will improve myself." Ushio said with full of confident.

"Then, is it okay if we visit you on few weekends?" Nagisa asked.

"It's okay if you tell me first." Ushio said while drinking her tea.

"Then be sure to always activate your phone, Shio-chan." Nagisa said.

"Yes, Mama. Don't worry about it!"

"Then, now we will go home." Tomoya got up and followed by Nagisa.

"You sure you don't want to stay?" Ushio asked them.

"Yes. Besides, Papa must go to work tomorrow, right?" Tomoya said as he patted her daughter.

"Then, we'll be going. Be a good girl, right?" Tomoya said as he and Nagisa left the room.

"I will, Papa." Ushio said.

The door closed and Ushio locked it. Finally, she was alone. She never lived alone before so it was a complete new experience. She washed the tea cups and decided to take a bath. After felt refreshed, Ushio changed into pajama and walked towards her balcony. She leaned on the railing and looked to the skies. The stars were beautiful that day.

"It seems like somebody could not sleep tonight." A voice came from the balcony next to hers.

"Oh, Takajo-san. Well, it was quiet hectic today. I could not sleep, yet. A habit, I think?" Ushio looked to her and gave him a smile referring to what he said earlier.

"An active habit, huh? Better spend your energy in student council when you have attended to our school." Takajo said.

"You may fit for the next student council president. Next term, Tomori will be a senior and could not continue her duty as the student council president. Me, Yusa, and Otosaka will be senior, too." He continued.

"A student council president, huh? Are you sure? I think it's a bit too high." She replied.

"Yes, I am sure. Before we encountered you, we have done some research. You were active in two clubs at once, right? Even you were the one who re-established the theater club. You have a real knack in leadership. You are perfect for this role." Takajo said to her while looking at her.

"But I don't think I could make it. I'm a transfer student, too. How should I change the student's mind to vote me?" Ushio said.

"Remember what your father told us, right? The story of Sakagami Tomoyo, a transfer student who become a student council president. If she could do that, you could do more." He said to make her confident.

"Papa was there to help Aunt Tomoyo back then. And I have no one to help me to achieve that." Ushio said while looking down.

"Then I will help you! I promise I will help you." Takajo said with a high voice. She turned to Takajo and saw his eyes. Ushio knew it was from the bottom of his heart. She started to blush.

She turned and looked at the skies hoping that Takajo didn't see her blushing.

"I hope you keep your promise then…" She said to him. They kept in silence for minutes.

"Well, I will be going to sleep. Tomorrow I should go to Hikariza to bid my farewell to my friends there. Do you want to go with me?" She asked.

"Hmm... If Tomori didn't have anything to do with me, I'll go with you." He said.

"Then, I'll wait for you in 8 A.M., okay?" She asked him.

"Okay, see you then!"

Ushio and Takajo entered their own room. What is going on with Ushio's mind? She just asked a boy she just knew to come with her. And he accepted it. She fumbled in her bed while blushing furiously.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

A/N : I still need a betareader here. Description in my profile!


	3. Chapter 3

Ushio woke up early in the morning. She felt excited today. She even had picked her best casual look for herself. She chose yellow long sleeved shirt with a short jeans skirt. She cooked herself eggs and bacon for breakfast but she just realized that she cooked too much for herself as she usually cooked for her family. She decided to invite Takajo for a breakfast. She put on a sandal and went to Takajo's room next door.

"DING… DONG…" She pushed the bell button.

Takajo opened the door. Actually he seemed ready to go.

"Umm… Takajo-san, have you eaten breakfast?" She asked him.

"No, I'm just about to cook myself a breakfast. Why is that?" He asked her back.

"Actually, I cooked a little bit too much so would you mind to eat breakfast with me?"

"Sure. How about we go after we finish with the breakfast?" He asked.

"That would be great!" Ushio said.

"Then wait here, I'm going to take my phone and wallet." He entered his room for a while and took his phone and wallet.

"Okay, I'm ready." He followed Ushio to her room.

"Are eggs and bacons okay?" Ushio asked him.

"That's okay. It's already enough for me."

* * *

After they finished their breakfast, they set off for Hikariza. Hikariza isn't too far from there but it still a long way. They arrived at Hikariza in less than an hour.

"I'm going to meet my friends in the park in front of my grandparents' bakery. Let's drop a visit to my grandparents!" Ushio dragged Takajo to a small bakery near the road intersection. Takajo read the sign. "Furukawa Bread". He assumed that this bakery owned by Ushio's mother's parents.

"Excuse me!" Ushio shouted while entering the shop.

"Welco- oh… It's you, Ushio. It's been a long time. And who is this, huh?" Akio greeted and inspected Takajo.

"Stop that, Akki. This is my friend from my new school, Takajo. He's accompanying me." Ushio said to Akio.

"Shio-chan, is that you? I heard you will be transferred to Houshinoumi Academy." Sanae hugged Ushio.

"Yes, Sanae-san. And today I will bid my farewell to my friends in here. By the way, please introduce yourself Takajo." She said.

"Oh, my name is Takajo Jojiro from Houshinoumi Academy student council. I assume you are Okazaki's grandparents. It's my pleasure to meet you." He bowed.

"Please take care of Ushio, Takajo-kun." Sanae said to him.

"Yes, I will."

Ushio took a look at the breads. She noticed weird looking bread with a shape of stars in the corner. She assumed that bread was made by Sanae with help of her friend Ibuki Fuko. Well, then it's not a star then, it's a…

"That is special starfish bread…" Akio said. She was right.

"Made by Sanae and Fuko…" He continued with lower volume. If it was made by Sanae, it should be a disaster. Ushio then have a mischief smile on her lips. She knew Takajo never taste this "wonderful"bread.

"Sanae-san, can I let Takajo-san taste one of your bread?" Ushio asked Sanae.

"Sure, let him know the taste of my wonderful bread." Sanae said.

"Here, Takajo-san. Taste this and make sure you eat them all!" Ushio gave Takajo one of the infamous Sanae's bread.

Takajo took a bite and started to taste it. Huurgh… Takajo grunted but he kept eating. He took another bite and now he fell to the ground.

"How does it taste, Takajo-san?" Ushio asked him.

"Huuurgh…. It… It's grea…t… Huurgh…" He said and started to eat them all as fast as he could so he didn't need to suffer anymore.

"Wow… I think Takajo-san said the bread is great because now he fell into his imagination of how the bread is delicious." Ushio said as she patted Takajo's unconscious head.

"Is Fu-chan here? I want to say goodbye to her." Ushio asked.

"Fuko is here! Oooh… Shio-chan! How are you?" Fuko showed herself.

"I'm fine. Have you heard I will moving and transfer to a new school? I'm here to bid my farewell." Ushio said to Fuko.

"Uoooh… Then Fuko wants to give you something before you leave." She took a wooden carving of star… err… starfish.

"What… is… this… monstrosity?" Takajo started to wake up.

"Whaa… A walking dead!" She shouted and slammed the wooden starfish into Takajo's face so many times. Takajo went dead again.

"Ah… Poor Takajo-san."

"Oooh… This is for you. Sorry Fuko must fight the walking dead with this." Fuko gave her the wooden carving.

"Thank you, Fu-chan. I will treasure this. Oh, it's time to meet my friends. Good bye!" Ushio exited the shop while dragging Takajo's body out.

* * *

"What was your purpose with all of that?" Takajo started to complain with what Ushio have done.

"Well, I need some entertainment I think. And you didn't know how horrible Sanae-san's bread so I introduced you with that." Ushio said with a smirk.

"You almost made me die!" He said. Ushio let out an out loud laugh. Takajo can't help but just smiled at her and repositioned his glasses.

"Uh, by the way, I need to go to the toilet." He pointed to the nearest toilet in the park.

"That bread really worked something on me." He said.

"Okay, then I'll wait here." Ushio said while holding a laugh.

Takajo left Ushio alone. Ushio looked into her watch and wondered why her friends didn't come yet.

"THAT'S THE GIRL!" A guy shouted nearby while pointing at Ushio.

The guy who was pointing at Ushio looked in a pretty bad shape like he was beaten somewhere. There were around six other men behind him. Two of them wielded a huge metal baseball bat. Ushio sensed a danger around here. Ushio noticed the man who was pointing at her was the man she beat a couple days ago. She assumed they want some revenge.

"Well-well, isn't it the Cocky Girl? You look pretty today, but unfortunately we want to make you ugly today." The biggest man in the group said. Ushio readied herself in a fighting stance.

"When will all of you stop, you shitty perverts?! Why do you dare to show your fucking face to me again, huh? You want some fist sandwich?" Ushio said.

"Whew… What a bad mouth for a good girl. Hey, brat! You were right about this girl. She is too cocky to handle. How about teaching you some manners?" The biggest said.

Two men from the group started to charge at her. She assumed they were the weakest of the group. They started to throw Ushio some punches and kicks. She easily dodged them and finished them with kicks. She knew they weren't stronger than the ones she fought before. They were just weak grunts for the frontline.

Saw two grunts has fallen, two others started to charge at her. They were a lot stronger than the first ones. And they were a lot stronger than Ushio. Two other men jumped into the fray and ambushed Ushio. In a quick move, Ushio was pinned to the ground with one man holding her arms and legs each.

"Hey, brat. You say this girl is strong? See, she isn't that strong!" The biggest one said.

"And because you brat are too weak to handle her, hold her tight and let me handle things from here." The biggest leaned closer and moved his hand to grab her skirt away.

"NO, DON'T! STOP THIS! TAKAJO-SAN!" Her eyes became red as blood. Her bloodlust were activated again. The air became so tense. The grounds suddenly shattered in the effect of Ushio's immersive overwhelming power.

"Hey, boss! There's something wrong with this girl. WHOA…" Ushio let go from the ones who pinned her.

She threw a quick fist to each one of the grunts. The grunts flied up high and fell on the hard ground. But Ushio was not focused to the biggest one as the biggest already flew a heavy fist to her face. But before it could land on her face…

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Takajo threw a sweet punch on the biggest one's face before he could land his fist on Ushio until the biggest one fainted.

Takajo could see Ushio still not let go from her bloodlust. She continuously mumbled "I'll kill you. I'll kill you." In a quick move Takajo held her body and embraced her.

"Stop this! Relax! Just hear my heartbeat and relax." He said to her.

"Thump… Thump… Thump…" She leaned her head closer to his chest as she tried to calm herself down.

"Thump… Thump… Thump…" Her heavy breaths started to become easy ones.

"Thump… Thump… Thump…" Her eyes started to changes from red.

"Thump… Thump… Thump…" She started to recall what happened and regretted to have such means to kill a person.

"Thump… Thump… Thump…" Her tears started to roll from her eyes. She was so scared.

"Thump… Thump…" Everything went black for her as she started to faint.

* * *

"NO, DON'T! STOP THIS! TAKAJO-SAN!" Takajo heard Ushio's scream when he washed his hands.

He hurriedly ran to the scene and saw Ushio being harassed by some gang of men. He saw Ushio was started to be consumed by her own bloodlust. Takajo knew he must stop her from being consumed by her own bloodlust or it could be dangerous for her and people around her. He felt anger overwhelming. He didn't want Ushio to be hurt. He ran and pulled a powerful fist targeted to the biggest man in the gang.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Takajo threw a sweet punch on the biggest one's face until the biggest one fainted.

He quickly embraced her. "Stop this! Relax! Just hear my heartbeat and relax." He said to her.

He could feel Ushio shuffled in his embrace. Her small fists held Takajo's shirt like she never wanted to let go. He could see her face terrified. Her eyes started to change and she started to sob. Her tears stained Takajo's shirt before she completely fainted. He saw girls come to the park. He assumed they were Ushio's friends.

"Are you Okazaki's friend? Go get some help!" Takajo said to them.

"Hang in there, Okazaki-san." Takajo carried her and searched for a safe place to lay her down. And he found it.

* * *

" _Mama, Papa, where are you?" Ushio cried out loud._

 _Her tears streamed from her eyes like a waterfall. She wandered here and there searching for her parents. She couldn't find a clue. She fell to her knees and covered her face with her tiny hands as she cried louder. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw a boy with smile on his face._

" _Are you okay?"…_

* * *

Ushio started to wake up. She opened her eyes and saw blinding lights. She could feel that she was on a futon. But where was she? She knew from the interior that she was in her mother's room in her grandparent's house. She could feel her left hand holding something really tight. She turned herself to see what was she holding and saw Takajo sitting next to her. She was holding Takajo's shirt all this time.

"Shio-chan? Are you awake? Oh my god, we are so worried about you!" One of Ushio's friends said.

"Okazaki-san, I… I think you could let go of my shirt now." Takajo said to her.

Ushio hurriedly let go of Takajo's shirt with blush across her cheeks. Takajo got up from his seat after Ushio let him go.

"I'm sure you will be fine now, Okazaki-san. Now, please excuse me for a second." He said and exited the room. When the door slid close, Ushio's friends surrounded her.

"Okay, now explain." One of five of them said.

"Explain what?" Ushio asked them back nervously.

"That boy with glasses! I could hear that boy screamed "Don't touch her!" and came to the rescue."

"He is Takajo-san. He is from Houshinoumi Academy. That's where I will be transferred to. And Takajo-san is a member of student council there. That's all nothing more." Ushio said.

"You were holding his shirt all the time you passed out, you know?"

"Well, who is feeling any safe after being harassed by perverts?" Ushio asked them.

"Then, he is really her savior and made her feel safe. Ah, you must be like him, Ushio!"

Suddenly she realized that she picked the wrong words. Her cheeks started to change to color red as she knew it.

* * *

"Is she safe now?" A voice in his phone asked.

"Yeah, for now. But I will always by her side next time to guarantee that." Takajo said to the phone.

"Okay. Thank you, Takajo. You have helped our existence back then. If someone from the evil scientist knew this, I'm afraid her safety is on the brink." The voice in his phone said.

"I won't let any of their fingers lay on her." He said and ended the call.

"Oh, Takajo!" A voice called him. It was Ushio's father, Okazaki Tomoya.

"Is Ushio okay?" he asked Takajo.

"She is okay. I am able to save her in time." He said to Tomoya.

"I hope you do that more." Tomoya said.

"What do you mean?"

"Ushio is a strong girl. She is active and outgoing. We will never know when she is going to crush or fall. She will need a strong man as a place to lean on. I need you to become that person. A person who will protects her and becomes a place for her to run. As her parents, we could not always do that. I trust you to do that. Will you do that for her, Takajo?" Tomoya asked him.

The conversation went silent for minutes.

* * *

"Okay, I'm going to my condo. I will take supplementary lessons tomorrow so I'm going back." Ushio said to her parents and grandparents.

"Take care, Ushio. Take care of Ushio, Takajo-kun." Nagisa said.

They left Furukawa Bread and walked to nearest bus station. They walked in silence. A few minutes later a bus that goes to their condo arrived. They took a seat in the back of the bus.

"Ummm… Takajo-san…" Ushio started to talk.

"What is it, Okazaki-san?"

"Thank you for saving me and sorry for making this trip bad. I'm feeling sorry for that." Ushio said to him.

"No need for sorry, Okazaki-san –"

"But Takajo-san, it's because of me that the perverts want some revenge with me. I was the one who could not control my own ability. I'm sorry to drag you into this, Takajo-san. I…" Ushio made a long pause.

"I… I am scared to have this power with me. I am afraid that I will hurt somebody." Ushio said.

"Don't be afraid. We are all here for you. Your family, your friends, student council members, and me." Takajo said to her.

"Will you be there when I need someone to lean on?" Ushio asked.

It was the same question that was asked by her father. Will he be there when Ushio needs someone to lean on? He pulled his lips to form a smile to her.

"Yes, I will." He answered with the same answer he gave to her father.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. Chapter 4

" _Are you okay?" That boy asked Ushio._

 _His smile warmed Ushio's lost heart. She stopped crying and shook her head a few times._

" _Come on! Come with me!" He grabbed Ushio's hand and dragged her…_

* * *

"BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…" Ushio started to wake up from her sleep.

Her phone alarm woke her up exactly at 7 A.M. She got up from her bed and rubbed her head. That dream again. Who was that boy? She was curious. She walked to the bathroom and took a shower. Her supplementary lessons will begin today. She changed into Houshinoumi Academy uniform. She stared at herself in front of mirror.

"Is red too eye catching for a uniform? Oh, well…" She said to herself.

She went to the kitchen and made a breakfast and a bento for herself. She noted to herself that it was Spring break so she did not expect for the cafeteria to open. She packed her bento and ate her breakfast. After finished with her breakfast and dishes, she looked at the clock. It was 8 o'clock. She was in time, so she took her bag, her acceptance letter, and her phone. She left her room and locked it.

* * *

There was almost nobody in Houshinoumi Academy since it was Spring break. Her acceptance letter said that the supplementary class will be held in class 2-D. She could hear her own footsteps while walking through the corridors. She finally found the class. She slid the door open and shocked to see who was inside.

"Otosaka-san? What are you doing here?" Ushio asked the person inside.

"Well, I didn't attend most of my last year. The school and Nao said that I should join the supplementary lessons with the transfers to catch up so I could focus on senior year lessons next term." He said.

"Senior? So, should I call you all Senpai?" Ushio asked.

"It's up to you. I'm not bothered if you call me Senpai though." He said.

"Then, it's Otosaka-senpai for you." She said.

* * *

They finished Mathematics and even Ushio has covered whole second year lessons because of Otosaka. They took a little break and decided to grab some canned coffee.

"It's Key Coffee. The best coffee around even you could taste it to your death." He gave her a canned coffee.

"Well, that's rather creepy. Say, what is your relationship with Tomori-senpai? Don't ever try to hide it. I could see that. And is your relationship with Tomori-senpai related to your scarred eye?" Ushio asked.

"Hmmm… Well, it's a very long story. Are you sure you want to hear them?"

"Sure, we don't have anything to do right now." Ushio said.

"In a simple way, Nao was the one who saved me." He said.

"Saved you? What do you mean?" Ushio asked him.

"I was not the man who I am right now. I was just a fiend who likes to cheat until I met her. She made me transfer to this school. You do know my ability, right?"

"Plunder. The greatest ability with the greatest consequence ever." Ushio said.

"That's right. That's why they want me to transfer to this school. And then something bad happened…" He gave a long pause.

"My sister has a very dangerous ability called "Collapse". She was killed when she accidentally activated her ability. I was crushed. I could not save my sister that time. I started to walk into the wrong path. And then…" He stopped.

"What happened?" Ushio asked.

"Nao happened. She put me back into the right path and made me feel less guilty about it. She saved me from great despair. She reminded me about the meaning of becoming a human. When I was lost, she was there looking after me. I fell for her shortly after that. She changed me." He said with a smile the same like when Ushio's father told a story about her mother.

"Anyway, I traveled back time after I plundered my brother's ability. I was able to save my sister with plundering her ability away from her. Then I learnt that every death you cheat, you must have to pay." He said in dark tone.

"To get my power, some syndicate of evil ability wielders kidnapped Nao and Kumagami, an ability finder. I was coming to the rescue but instead of rescuing Nao and Kumagami, I must pay the consequence. I fatally injured my right eye and accidentally activated "Collapse" which ended up with Kumagami's death." He continued.

"Kumagami's death affected my brother most. Kumagami was my brother's best friend. Nao told me to plunder every single ability in this world and I did so. I made a promise to come back to her and be her lover after I plunder every single ability in this world. She made me flashcards and those were some kind of my lucky charm. If it's not because of those flashcards, I will not able to come back to her. See, even if she wasn't there, she still watching over me." He said.

"In the end, I lost all of my short term memory because of my ability has staggered my brain. I was able to regain my memories because of her, again. She handed me a music player. From there I started to remember everything. I remembered why I fell for her." He finished.

"That's kinda explaining why you could not plunder my ability." Ushio said.

"That brain damage, remember? I was shocked in fact when I knew there still one last ability wielder in this world." He said.

"So, the conclusion is you are dating Tomori-senpai?" Ushio asked.

"Yeah, that's right. And that's why I need supplementary lessons, too. Okay, Okazaki-san. Let's get back to the classroom." He said and threw the empty can to the trash can.

"By the way, thanks to hear me out." Otosaka said.

"It's okay. I even like your story. Next time let me do the storytelling." She said.

* * *

They covered whole two years of science next. Ushio was a rather fast learner and able to keep up with Otosaka. After hours of lessons with the tutor, the tutor decided to have a lunch break.

"Hey, Okazaki! What are you planning for lunch?" Otosaka asked.

"I'm planning to eat my bento."

"Then let's eat in student council room!" He grabbed his bento and dragged Ushio to the student council room.

Otosaka opened the student council room door and let Ushio in before he closed the door.

"Ooh… Otosaka-san, Okazaki-san! It's great to see you!" Yusa greeted them.

The room filled with the other three student council members. They seemed to leisure in this room.

"Today, I bring Okazaki to join on our lunch. Is that okay?" Otosaka asked.

"It's okay, Yuu-kun. We could not leave her alone, right?" Tomori said.

"Hi, Okazaki-san. How's your neighbor treating you?" A boy with glasses asked her.

"Well, he's been doing great, Takajo-senpai." The senpai word hit Takajo directly in his ears.

"That was a bit new from you to call me Senpai." Takajo said.

"Well, I must do before it's becoming a habit to not call you Senpai." Ushio said.

"But you can call me Takajo if you like it." Takajo said.

"Come on! Let's eat before our break's is over." Otosaka said.

They respectively opened their own bentos.

"You know, Yuu-kun. I could make you bento if you want it. So, you will not get bored with that omurice." Tomori said to Otosaka.

"No, thank you. My sister really wants to make something for me so I definitely don't want to let my sister down. Besides, I don't want you to wake up so early in the Spring break just to make me some bentos." He said.

"Uuuh… What a sister complex…" Tomori said.

"Hee… What did you say?"

Tomori and Otosaka continued to argue with each other. Even they argued with each other, they looked like they deeply care for each other in Ushio's opinion. Ushio saw their argumentation like how they expressed their feelings to each other. Ushio smiled as she saw their arguments grew more nonsense.

"Tomori-senpai and Otosaka-senpai are very close even they are arguing to each other." Ushio said.

"Yusarin thinks that, too. Yusarin thinks that as how they say "I love you" to each other!" Yusa said to Ushio.

"They may argue to each other but they love each other deeply in their hearts." Takajo said while repositioning his glasses.

They continued to eat and chat until it was the time for Otosaka and Ushio to get back to the class.

"Well, we are heading back to class. See you, later." Otosaka said goodbye to his friends.

Ushio and Otosaka headed to the class and continued their studies. They covered whole two years of English. Otosaka has more language skill than Ushio since he had spent his time in second year abroad to plunder abilities around the world. But Ushio will never give up. She continued to study until she finally caught up not too far behind Otosaka. After hours of language, they finished the supplementary lesson for the day.

"Well, we still got social studies and Japanese for tomorrow. Let's go home." Otosaka said to Ushio.

He looked into his phone and his expression changed so sudden.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Okazaki. I have to meet Nao. So, I'm going to leave you. Is that okay?" Otosaka asked Ushio.

"Yeah, it's okay. I know how to get home so don't worry about me."

"Okay, if you say so. See you tomorrow." He dashed to god only knows.

Ushio walked to the school gate and saw someone waiting in front of the gate.

"Ah, Okazaki! Do you mind if I tag along?" Takajo asked her.

"Sure, you can tag along. You waited me all this time?" Ushio asked.

"Nah, I got some student council things that I need to finish before I was waiting for you." He said.

"So, how was your supplementary lesson?" He asked.

"I even got the second year covered since Otosaka was there. I think I even ready for the third year lessons." Ushio said.

"Don't get too cocky, Okazaki. You should always be more careful. Who knows what challenge will coming at you?" Takajo said.

"By the way, do you want to go eat with me? We could eat Okonomiyaki if you tag along. It's on my treat!" Takajo asked Ushio.

"That would be great!" Ushio answered without thinking anymore.

When she realized that Takajo just invite her to eat with him, her cheeks turned into red. She saw Takajo who seemed worry over her. She made a small smile to cover her blush.

"Just remember to go home before 9 P.M. I still got supplementary lessons tomorrow." She said to Takajo.

"Okay! Then, let's go!" Takajo grabbed Ushio's hand and dragged her all along.

* * *

They arrived at Takajo's favorite Okonomiyaki place. He's been bragging to Ushio about this place. For him, this place always made him feel alive.

"Excuse me!" Takajo and Ushio entered the shop.

"Welcome! Ooh… Jiro-kun! Long time no see! I see you brought another friend." The shop attendant greeted Takajo.

"This is Okazaki Ushio. She will enter the same school as me next term. She is one year below me." Takajo introduced her.

"Okazaki-san, this is Ueno-san. He has owned this place since I was a little." Takajo said.

"It's nice to meet you, Ueno-san." Ushio said to Ueno.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Okazaki-san. So, the regular?" Ueno asked Takajo.

"Make that two." Takajo replied.

"Okay, coming right up!" Ueno started to prepare the dish.

In a few minutes, two okonomiyakis were ready on the table.

"Now it's time for me to proof your saying about this place." Ushio said before taking a bite of her okonomiyaki.

When the taste of her Okonomiyaki touched her taste buds, something happened to her. Somehow she felt her whole body froze there.

 _"This place is the best! Isn't it?"…_

A flash of a memory came to her vision. A boy with a warming voice. Who was that boy?

"Earth to Okazaki… Are you there?" Takajo waved at her.

Ushio snapped out and gave him a sweet smile.

"This is very good! How do you find this place?" She said to avoid Takajo notices any difference at her.

"Well, I was once live in this neighborhood. My father told me that this place is the best Okonomiyaki place around so I beg my father to take me here on my birthday. Since then I love this place." Takajo said.

"Ohoho… I remembered when Jiro-kun came here for the first time. He jumped all over the place just because of the excitement of trying his first Ueno Signature Okonomiyaki." Ueno said from behind the counter.

"Okazaki-san, you should come here often so I could share some interesting story of Jiro-kun!" He continued.

"By the way, Jiro-kun, how are Yuu-kun and his girlfriend?" Ueno asked.

"They are fine. Yuu seemed has regained all of his memories thanks to her." Takajo said.

"Whew, good for him. How about you, Jiro-kun? When will you get a girlfriend? Or this girl is your girlfriend?" Ueno's words made Ushio blushed. She tried so hard to hide it from Takajo.

"That girl is nice, Jiro-kun. Here's your chance to experience your own love story." Ueno said and answered with a silence from Takajo.

"Girl, I tell you something. Jiro-kun is the nicest guy I have met. He could not stay idle seeing somebody who needs help. And I'm grateful I have met him." Ueno said to Ushio.

Ushio just blushed and tried to act as cool as she could.

"Just let me finish my meal, Ueno-san." Takajo said.

"Fufufu… if you say so, Jiro-kun." Ueno said with smirk.

* * *

They finished their food and prepared to leave. Takajo paid for all they buy.

"Thank you for your service!" Takajo and Ushio left the shop.

"Come back anytime!"

Ueno waved at them as they left the shop. He made a small smile for himself.

"It seems Jiro-kun has found her again." He said to himself.

He smiled and back to whatever he was doing.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Chapter 5 (ARC 1 - PART 1)

"BEEP… BEEP… BEEP…" Ushio woke up and shut her phone's alarm.

It was first day of school. Ushio got up from her bed and tidied it before jumped into her bathroom to take a quick bath. She never imagined that attended school would be this nervous. Because of this nervousness she cooked the breakfast a little too much again. She thought maybe Takajo wants to eat breakfast with her. With a quick move she exited her room and knocked Takajo's door. Soon, Takajo came out from his room.

"I cooked a little bit too much again. Care to join breakfast with me?" She asked her neighbor.

"Sure, that's great! Let me grab my bag so we can go to school together." He took his bag and set off to Ushio's room.

"Today's menu is toast with scrambled eggs and sausages. I hope you like it." Ushio said as she let him sit on the dining chair.

"Smell's good for me!" He said.

* * *

They finished their breakfast and dishes around half an hour. They walked to school together side by side.

"Ummm… Takajo-senpai. I know this is a little bit sudden but…" Ushio started when they were about 50 meters to school.

"Are you sure we could walk together like this?" She blushed as she realized she just said something selfish.

"It's okay. Even if I'm your senior, we are still friends and you are my neighbor. I could not ignore that." He said with a smile.

Takajo noticed Ushio's silence. He walked closer to Ushio resulting Ushio's blush became even redder.

"Don't feel embarrassed. Just relax. They don't have such seniority in this school." Takajo said.

"I'm going to see which class I'm in. You should too, Okazaki. How about we catch lunch together? Since you have made me a breakfast this morning, lunch is on me, kay?" He asked her.

"Okay, I'll meet you in cafeteria. See you later, Takajo-senpai." She said and bid farewell to Takajo.

"See ya!" Takajo dashed.

Ushio checked the second year class list. Okazaki Ushio, class 2-B. Before she went to the class, she went to the faculty room to check with her homeroom teacher since she was a transfer student.

"Okay, Okazaki-san. Now, let's go to your new classroom." Ushio's homeroom teacher said and led Ushio to her classroom.

They reached class 2-B and entered the class.

"Okay, settle down! Settle down!" The teacher said and in a rush the students went to their respective seat.

"This year we have a new transfer student. Please introduce yourself, Okazaki-san." The teacher said as he finished writing Ushio's name on the board.

"My name is Okazaki Ushio from Hikariza High School. Please take care of me for this year." She said to the class.

"Uooh… Kawaiii…"

"I heard she was the playmaker of Hikariza's basketball team. That's cool, right?"

"Is she single? I saw her with one of the student council senior. Are they dating?"

The last comment hit her ear. This was exactly what Ushio afraid of. The power of gossip. She just hoped they didn't assume anything crazier than this.

"Okay, Okazaki-san. Please sit next to Azumaya-san." The teacher pointed to the seat next to the window and beside a short haired girl. Ushio assumed the girl was a tomboy girl from her appearance.

"Thank you, sir." She walked to her seat.

"Now, let's begin our homeroom." The teacher said.

Ushio took her seat and placed all of her belongings there.

"Hey, Okazaki. Can I call you Ushio-chan?" The tomboy girl asked. As Ushio predicted, the girl's voice might be deep and sounded like a boy. Ushio nodded to the girl.

"I'm Azumaya Maki. Call me Maki-kun. It's nice to meet you, Ushio-chan!" She said to her.

"Kun?" Ushio asked her.

"The boys here said I am manlier than most boys around here. Then they started to call me Maki-kun." She said with a huge smile on her lips.

"Then, let's get along, shall we?" Ushio asked her and replied by Maki with a cheeky smile of hers. Ushio took it as a yes.

* * *

The bell of recess was ringing out loud. Ushio fumbled with her notes because the teacher was talking too fast. Takajo was right. She must not be cocky.

"Ushio-chan! You want to go grab some coffee?" Maki asked her.

"Sure, Maki-kun." She said and they walked to the vending machine.

Maki bought two canned coffer from the machine.

"It's Key coffee. The best coffee around even you could taste it to your death." Maki said.

"I felt someone said that before to me." She said and received the canned coffee from Maki.

"Let me guess, Takajo-senpai?" Maki said and made Ushio blushed.

"No, not him. Geez, what's going on with everyone?" Ushio said.

"Well, Takajo-senpai is a student council member. He is nice and there must be a lot of girls who secretly admire him. People saw you hang out with him often so they made an assumption that usually called gossip. But who cares about gossip, right?" Maki's word made Ushio smile.

"You are right, Maki-kun." Ushio said.

"You know Maki-kun. The boys call you Maki-kun maybe because you are cooler than them." Ushio continued.

"Geehee… You think I'm cool? Maybe it's just because I'm a tomboy. Never seen a tomboy before?" She asked.

"Hmmm… I always mark myself as a tomboy but I never met such a tomboy like you. Even your voice is so deep like a boy." Ushio answered.

"Haha… Even for me it's easier to get along with boys. They are more honest than girls in this school. I'm lucky I met you, fellow tomboy." Maki gave her another huge smile.

"I'm not much of a tomboy, Maki-kun. I didn't get to cut my hair into short like a boy." Ushio said.

"Then I still the queen of tomboys around here… Geehee…" Maki made another huge smile.

Ushio laughed with Maki's comment.

"Yow… Maki-kun! High Five!" A boy gave Maki a high five.

"Wow, you even high-fiving boys! As far as I am a tomboy, I never reach that state." Ushio said.

"Geehee, I'm cooler than them, remember?" Maki's comment made Ushio let out a small laugh.

"Let's get back to class, Ushio-chan." Maki said and walked with Ushio.

* * *

The next period started. Ushio started to show herself as a smart girl in the class and received many praises from the teacher. Ushio looked into the person in her right. Maki was fumbling with her notes.

"How could you be so smart, Ushio-chan?" Maki asked her.

"Before I started this term, I had a supplementary lesson. Otosaka-senpai was with me so I must caught up with him, too. I had learnt all second year lessons." She answered.

"Otosaka-senpai, huh? He is from the student council, right? He is President Tomori's girlfriend, too. He took away my ability before he went abroad." Maki said.

"What was your ability, Maki-kun?" Ushio asked.

"Hmm… Well, it was called "Iron Fist". I could turn my fist into a solid iron with the same weight as iron. So, I worked my arm a bit. See?" Maki flexed her arm.

Ushio giggled. Maki gave her another huge smile. Sure, this girl could not stop smiling.

"What's yours, Ushio-chan? I guess Otosaka-senpai has not taken away your ability, right?" She asked.

"Yes, that's right. Otosaka-senpai couldn't take ability anymore or his brain would be damaged. My ability is called "bloodlust". I could be stronger and deadlier within 5 minutes. After that, I would fall into unconsciousness. You don't want to mess with this power. Deadlier, remember?" Ushio said to Maki.

"Well, you should remind me not to mess with you." Maki said and pulling another wide smile.

* * *

The lunch break bell was ringing out loud. The teacher left the classroom.

"Ushio-chan, I have something to do right now. What will you do with your lunch? Is it okay if I left you?" Maki asked Ushio.

"It's okay. Takajo-senpai has invited me to lunch this morning as a payback. Don't worry about me." Ushio said.

"Then, good luck with your date! See ya later, Ushio-chan." She left with a playful smile.

"Geez…" Ushio said and left for cafeteria.

When she arrived the cafeteria was already full. She scanned the whole cafeteria for Takajo.

"Okazaki-san! Here!" Takajo waved at her. He was sitting with meals already served on the table.

"What is this, Takajo-senpai?" Ushio asked.

"This is cow tongue curry rice. It is a limited meal and I really want you to try this." Takajo said.

Ushio took a seat in front of Takajo.

"Thank you, Takajo-senpai. I really appreciate this." She said.

"Don't mention it. Besides it's my payback for this morning breakfast." Takajo said.

"Itadakimasu…" They started to eat.

"Uoooh! This is so good! No wonder if this one is limited." She kept ravaging the curry.

"By the way, how is the school?" Takajo asked.

"It's great. I get along with a girl named Maki-kun." She said.

"Maki-kun? That tomboy girl? She helped the student council a lot while Otosaka was away. She was first year representative and going for the second year. She got whole boys in this school on her back." Takajo said about Maki.

"Yeah, she is a cool girl. I have decided to stick with her. I wonder why she always has that huge smile though." Ushio said with a huge smile mimicking Maki.

"By the way, have you decided to roll in the next student council president election? The registration will open soon. I will tell you if the registration has opened." He asked Ushio.

"Hmm… I don't know but I think I will give it a shot." Ushio said.

"First, I need to gather devotees. That's the hardest part though." Ushio continued.

"Good luck with that! Let me know if you need anything. I have promised to help you, remember?" Takajo said and made Ushio smile.

"Glad you still not forget about your promise. For now, just be there when I need ya." She said to Takajo.

Takajo phone rang. He saw his phone for a while and read the message.

"Tomori-san wants to meet you in the student council room. Come on, let's finish our lunch and get there as soon as possible." Takajo said.

* * *

They finished their lunch in a split second. They ran to the student council room because they didn't want to make Tomori waits.

"What's keeping you so long? A date?" Tomori asked them when they arrived.

"We were having a peaceful lunch, Tomori-senpai. Huuurgh…" Ushio almost threw out everything she has eaten.

Otosaka and Yusa greeted Ushio as Ushio came in to the room.

"How's the school, Okazaki-san?" Yusa asked.

"It's been great! Thank you for asking." Ushio answered.

"Now, where's Maki-kun? She should have come by now." Tomori said.

"Ah, Maki-kun said she have something to do. She might still busy." Ushio said.

"So, you have met Maki-kun? Glad to hear that. Anyway let's begin our intentions here." Tomori said.

"We will be needed a year representative from the freshmen. As you know, Maki-kun is the second year representative. Okazaki-san, I have a task for you." Tomori said.

"I need you to search the perfect candidate for this. Since you are new around this school, I hope you could get closer to the students of this school starting from the freshmen. Don't worry, Maki will helping you at this." Tomori continued.

Tomori took something from beneath her desk. She dropped it on her desk and Ushio could hear a loud "thud" just because of it.

"We have sorted a few candidates and this is the list and the profiles for the candidates we have chosen. Your task is to pick one." Tomori said.

"I will get it done!" Ushio said and picked the files from the desk.

"Glad to hear that. Now you may come back to your class." Tomori dismissed everyone.

Ushio headed straight to her class.

"Okazaki-san! Wait!" Takajo yelled. Ushio stopped and waited for Takajo to catch up.

"You told Tomori-senpai that I want to roll in the next president election, huh?" Ushio said.

"That's… Ummm…"

"Just… Thank you. You are trying your best to fulfill your promise. I could see that." Ushio said while smiling.

* * *

The class started again. Ushio turned to see her right. There's nobody there. Where was Maki-kun? She was worried and couldn't stay calm. Ushio raised her hand to interrupt the teacher.

"What is it, Okazaki-san?" The teacher asked Ushio.

"Excuse me, sir! May I go to the toilet, please?"

"Yes, you may, Okazaki-san." The teacher said.

"Thank you, sir." Ushio dashed out of the classroom.

Out of her classroom, she wondered where Maki would be. She went to the toilet and nobody there. She started to worry. Was she in the infirmary? Ushio dashed to the school's infirmary.

"Thank you, madam." Ushio saw Maki just exited the infirmary.

"Ah, Ushio-chan! What are you doing here? Don't you suppose attending your class? Oh, I have heard that you have a task from Tomori-senpai to choose a year representative from the freshmen. Don't worry, I will help you!" Maki said playfully like there was nothing happened to her.

"Where have you been? You have plasters all over your face, Maki-kun." Ushio asked her.

"Ehehe… I tripped at the stairs and fell badly. Sorry for making you worry." She said with a very wide smile on her lips.

"Let's get back to the class, Ushio-chan." She said and walked to the class.

Ushio could sense there was something wrong with Maki but Maki decided to keep it to herself. Maki was smiling wide but why Ushio felt uneasy about this? Ushio started to ask herself "There's something she's been hiding behind those smiles. What is it?" Ushio decided to not talk about this and stayed silent in her walk back to the class.

* * *

ARC 1 : BEHIND THOSE SMILES – TO BE CONTINUED…


	6. Chapter 6 (ARC 1 - PART 2)

"Fujimaki Kohta, 1-A. He is the first one on the list. The record says he is the master arcade gamer in this town. He could not stop from playing arcade. Even if he does so, he is a genius who passed this school's test flawlessly. Hey, wait a second…" Ushio read the rest of the files. Today Ushio decided to start searching for the student council first year representative.

"What is it, Ushio-chan?" Maki wondered.

"I don't think this is the list for the student council. This is a list for troubled freshmen. What's in Tomori-senpai's mind?" Ushio asked herself.

"Maybe Tomori-senpai wants to search some hidden potential." Maki said.

"Or maybe the person Tomori-senpai wants is between these people." Ushio said.

"Hey, Senpai! You are making my friends a bit anxious here. They are afraid they make some mistake that summon you two here." A freshman said from behind.

Ushio and Maki turned themselves and found a freshman boy with a spiky hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Pardon me but who are you?" Ushio asked him.

"I'm Hishikawa Shiki from class 1-A. And yours?" He asked back.

"I'm Okazaki Ushio and she is Azumaya Maki. We are both from class 2-B." Ushio answered.

"Okazaki? You are the transfer second year student who wants to roll in the next presidency, right?" Shiki asked.

"Hey, how do you know that?" Ushio asked him.

"Gossip in this school is flowing pretty fast you know." Maki said to Ushio.

"So could you get us to Fujimaki Kohta? We need to talk to him." Ushio said.

"Fujimaki? He is a strange one. He has not come to school since day one. We even don't know how he is look like. Ooy! Ryo! Come here!" He called another person from his class.

"What is it, Shiki-kun? Oh! Maki-kun-senpai! What are you doing here?" The boy asked Maki.

"Ryo-kun! I'm accompanying my friend here." She said.

"Are you Okazaki-senpai? We have heard that you want to roll in the next presidency. Good luck! By the way, do you need any help? I'm class 1-A representative." Ryo asked.

"Do you happen to know what's going on with Fujimaki?" Ushio asked.

"He has not come to school since day one. His parents have no idea where Fujimaki is going. The whole class has been worrying over him. Come to my class, I will show you something." Ushio, Maki, and Shiki followed Ryo to his class.

"Uooh, that's Maki-kun-senpai! Okazaki-senpai? What is she doing here?" The class commented with Ushio and Maki entered the class.

"Listen class! Okazaki-senpai here will help us with bringing back Fujimaki Kohta to school. And with that let's fill her in with any information you have." Ryo said and let Ushio sat on his desk.

"Anyone have any idea where Fujimaki would go?" Ushio asked to the whole class.

"Uhmm… Okazaki-senpai." A girl raised her hand.

"Yes, what is it?" Ushio let her talk.

"I heard that Fujimaki is a master arcade gamer, right? Searching into one and another arcade in this town may found him." The girl said.

"As a gamer I would not go to an outdated arcade. I would go to an arcade that always updating their games." Shiki said.

"Here I have googled all the arcade around this town." Shiki said and gave the list to Ushio.

"Let's start to scratch every outdated arcade in this list." Ushio started to scratch every arcade that was outdated and found one arcade that was always updated.

"I know where that arcade is! I used to play there a lot." Maki said.

"Okay, we found one. Maki-kun, Shiki-kun, let's go to this arcade after school. Ryo-kun, thank you for your help. Everybody, thank you for all of your help. I promise I will bring back Fujimaki to the school." Ushio thanked.

"Don't mention it. We will wait for Fujimaki to come, Okazaki-senpai. We wish you goodluck!" Ryo said.

"Okay, Shiki-kun, meet us in front of the school gate after school, okay?" Ushio said to Shiki and left for her class.

* * *

The class was finally finished. Maki and Ushio walked to the school gate and found Shiki has been waiting for them.

"Maku-kun-senpai! Okazaki-senpai! Are we ready?" Shiki asked them.

"Yeah, let's go." Ushio, Shiki, and Maki went to the arcade.

"Uoooh… I miss this place…" Maki showed a new expression Ushio has never seen.

"Let's find Fujimaki Kohta, first." Ushio said.

They asked around the arcade and everybody referred them to an arcade with many people around it.

"So, who is next to challenge Fujimaki Kohta, the master gamer, and his partner, Daigo Yuuki?" An announcer said to the P.A. system.

Ushio, Maki, and Shiki sure that this Fujimaki was THE Fujimaki they searched for. They walked closer to the machine.

"Hey, Fujimaki Kohta!" Ushio shouted resulting in three huge men surrounding her.

"Hey, girl. What are you doing with Fujimaki, huh?" The largest of them asked.

"I want to ask Fujimaki to come to school, sir. Is there any problem?" She said to the man.

"Well, there's a problem because he could not left this place, girl." Ushio looked at the boy with glasses who was sitting on the arcade's bench. He was looking at her with a stressed expression.

"What do you mean he could not leave this place?" Ushio asked the huge man in front of her.

"Don't talk to them further, madam! Just leave me here!" The boy with glasses cried.

"Hey, stop doing that, you brat!" The boy got a fist from the huge men.

"Hey, stop that! What's your problem? Let Fujimaki go!" Ushio said as Maki and Shiki stood behind her ready for the worst case.

"If we let him go, we could not run any business around here. We won't let him go. So, be gone!"

Ushio held herself. She thought she could not lose her control of her ability there or things could be worsened. She cleared her mind and thought a best way possible to resolve this problem without involving any violence.

"Alright, here's the deal! If I and Maki-kun here could beat Fujimaki and his partner in three different games, you let Fujimaki go and never harm him anymore. And if we lose, we will do anything for you. That's a challenge for you all, gangsters!" Ushio said to the huge men.

"And I want Fujimaki let out all of his strength to beat me." She continued.

"Hmph… Two cute girls and they are offering themselves to us if they lose, huh? Very well, we accept your challenge! Fighting game, racing game, and lastly shooting game! We will commence the challenge next week! Be ready!" The largest man said.

"So be it." Ushio said.

* * *

"WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, USHIO-CHAN?!" Maki yelled at Ushio.

"YOU JUST OFFERED OURSELF TO A BUNCH OF UNKNOWN GANG MEMBER!" She continued to yell at Ushio.

"Just… Stop… Maki-kun…" Ushio said.

"HOW COULD WE POSSIBLE BEAT THEM, USHIO-CHAN?" Maki continued.

"I am thinking the best way possible avoiding any violence, Maki-kun! Don't you get it? Once my ability unleashed, it only made something worse for me! I could not control my ability properly! A bunch of pervert gang back at Hikariza wanted to get revenge after I unleashed my ability for the first time! If Takajo-senpai wasn't there, maybe… maybe I… I…" Maki saw Ushio got more and more tense as she talked.

Maki saw Ushio's eyes start to turn into red. She suddenly knew Ushio has been holding her ability since she was challenging the huge men. Maki knew she must stop Ushio from unleashing her ability. Quickly she hugged Ushio.

"Hey… Hey, Ushio-chan… I'm sorry. I don't know if you hold this for a long time. Just breath. Don't let your ability taking over." Maki got her relaxed in time.

"I'm sorry, Maki-kun. I was reckless. But I remembered you said that you used to play at arcade quiet often." Maki let go of Ushio.

"Let's get ourselves training then!" Maki said.

"Shiki-kun, you are here to help, too! Make sure your whole class watches us when we win against those gangsters!" Maki continued.

"Okay, let's do this!" Shiki said.

* * *

Maki and Ushio went to the arcade every single day after school. Maki taught Ushio many things about games and even she taught her about the history of famous game developers. In day one, Maki taught Ushio about command list in fighting games and tried so hard to memorize all of it in a day. They made a sparring game of fighting after that with every move they have memorized. Shiki helped them by spreading rumors of they will have a challenge with this town's game master to save Fujimaka Kohta from the gangsters. The rumors hit the ears of student council president, Tomori Nao.

"Are you sure they will be okay?" Takajo asked.

"Let them be. If Okazaki-san wants to be a student council president, she must do this to gain freshmen's support. I could see Okazaki-san thought of something to avoid violence. I like that side. But still… Takajo-san…" Tomori said in a student council meeting.

"Maki-kun, you don't need to crash in my room." Ushio said to Maki who has landed her body on Ushio's couch.

"My room's next door. You could wake me up in the morning. It was fun, Ushio-chan." She gave Ushio a smile before fell asleep.

Her smile was different than the last time. Ushio could see that there was a bound that just lifted from her. Ushio made a conclusion that one of many things she used to hide has been exposed and that was arcade gaming. Maybe because of one and another thing, she could not play in arcade anymore. Ushio searched for a blanket and put it on Maki. Ushio took a bath and changed into something comfortable. She walked out to her balcony and saw Takajo was on his balcony too.

"How was your day in the arcade, Okazaki-san?" He asked her.

"Maki-kun crashed at my place. And I just discover that she live next to me all this time." She said.

"Is this just me or there's something behind her smile? I want to find out and return her real smile." Ushio said.

"She is a nice girl and a cool one. But I know from her eyes, there's a pain inside. She covered it with her smile." Ushio continued.

"I want her to be free at least when she's with me." Ushio said.

"Well, Maki-kun definitely needed someone by her side. Not every tough one is tough in the inside." Takajo said.

"Yeah, that applies on me, too." Ushio said.

"I need someone who could keep me stay sane to control my ability." She continued.

"By the way, I need to study so even I'm training for the arcade challenge, I keep up with school's lessons. Bye, Takajo-senpai." Ushio entered her room.

* * *

" _Why did you do this to me, Father?! Why did you do this to Mother?!" Maki yelled._

" _I'm sorry, but this is for your mother." Her father said._

 _Three men dragged Maki's body away. Maki struggled to let go._

" _No, no! Honey! Don't do that to Maki! Maki! MAKI!"_

* * *

"Maki-kun! It's already morning! You will be late if you are not waking up!" Ushio woke Maki up.

Maki woke up and rubbed her head. She thought about her dream. Her mother. Where is she now?

"Are you okay? You seemed a bit off." Ushio asked after she saw Maki's expression turned into a serious one.

"I'm okay, Ushio-chan." She said and gave her a smile.

"Well, if you say so. Take a bath and change into a new uniform. I'll make you a breakfast. I'll wait in my room." Ushio said.

Maki got up from Ushio's couch and walked to her own room. Since this morning Ushio became more and more worry for Maki. She could hear Maki yelling in her sleep loud and clear. She did not dare to wake her up but when Maki started to move violently she gathered her courage to wake Maki up and she pretended that nothing happened.

"What's going on with Maki's parents?" She wondered to herself.

Ushio cooked fried rice today for breakfast and made bentos for two. She thought she must have some situation to make Maki wanted to open up.

"Heyooo, Ushio-chan! What's for breakfast?" Maki suddenly appeared.

"Whoah… You startled me!" Ushio said.

"I can't wait for Ushio-chan's special breakfast." Maki said.

"Just take a seat and let me serve you." Ushio said.

Ushio served the fried rice on the table and took a seat in front of Maki.

"I have made you a bento for lunch to keep your spirits for the challenge." Ushio said.

"Itadakimasu." Maki started to eat her breakfast.

"Uoooh… How could you cook this so deliciously? Been training with cooking for Takajo-senpai?" Maki asked.

"Hey, I'm not cooking for Takajo-senpai. I just cooked too much and how do you know about that?" Ushio asked.

"Well, I have been your neighbor for about one month since you moved in. By the way, I want to know more about you, Ushio-chan. You tell me a piece of yourself then I tell you mine." Maki said.

"Okay, where do I start then?" Ushio asked Maki.

"Tell me about your story before you ended in Houshinoumi Academy." Maki said.

"Okay, I was born in a cold blizzard in the winter days. My parents, Okazaki Tomoya and Okazaki Nagisa, were met in Hikariza High School and they grew closer as Papa helped Mama rebuild theater club. That's why when I entered high school, I rebuilt the theater club again to pay my respect to my parents. Until now, the club is still ongoing and growing. I was a playmaker in Hikariza High School basketball team. The truth is every single sport team was trying to recruit me. I entered the basketball team because of Papa. I want to continue his dream to become a basketball player once in a lifetime. Then in the last days of the first year, a pervert gang tried to assault me. That's when I activated my ability for the first time. The next day, I met with the student council seniors and one of two people who could hold my bloodlust." Ushio explained her past.

"Let me guess, Takajo-senpai?" Maki asked with mischief smile on her lips. Ushio blushed when she saw Maki's smile.

"Okay, I was right. By the way, who is the other one?" Maki asked curiously.

"You may not realize this yet but it's you, Maki-kun. You held me back when I am about to lose my control back then. I am grateful to meet you." Ushio said.

"Are you trying to flatter me?" Maki asked still in a huge smile.

"No, I am not, Maki-kun. And that's why I have decided to trust you, Maki-kun." Ushio said in a serious tone.

Maki was held silent from Ushio's word. She never found someone who trusted her other than...

" _I have decided to trust you, Maki… Remember to come back to find me…"_

" _Mother, we don't have to do this…"_

" _You have to trust me, Maki…"_

She suddenly remembered a shattered memory. A memory she tried to hide. A memory she tried to run from. But Maki knew, fast or slow she must face this. Maki's expression started to change into somehow serious.

"…"

" _You have to trust me, Maki…"_

"Then, I have decided to trust you with this." She said.

She picked her phone and called someone. Ushio assumed she calls someone from school because she seemed like asking permission. She ended the call and face Ushio.

"The school has a secret policy like this. Anything you do as it concerned for the safety of one or many ability wielders will not affect your attendance and your score." Maki said in a serious tone.

"I want you to hear me out about my parents." Maki's eyes started to let out tears.

* * *

ARC 1 : BEHIND THOSE SMILES - TO BE CONTINUED


	7. Chapter 7 (ARC 1 - PART 3)

_I was born in a month when everything started to get cold. November the 18_ _th_ _. My mother gave birth of me that day in a secret government research facility. She decided to leave the facility with me after I was three. Years and years I lived normal days with my mother but I never knew what my mother has been doing all this time. We moved to different places every year. In every house I and my mother lived, my mother never allowed me to get into the basement. My mother said sometime in the future she would allow me. All my neighbors and my friends were all boys so I got along with boys easier than girls. I started to have this tomboy persona. I kept my hair short for years._

" _Maki-chan, wake up or you will be late for school!" My mother always woke me up every morning with a smile that could light my spirit for the whole day._

 _That's why I love to smile even it is saddening or stressing. She made me smile and gave a reason for stay alive. It's all for her happiness and mine. She was everything for me. I love her. I love my mother so much._

 _My life has been okay until one day, an unknown man came to my house. I was at my second year of junior high school. When I saw him for the first time, I knew he is one of my relative. When my mother met him, my mother yelled at him._

" _SO FOR ALL THIS TIME, YOU COME FOR HER NOW? WHAT WILL YOU DO TO HER? YOU ARE NOT DESERVED TO BE HER FATHER!" She yelled._

 _At that time, I suddenly realized that he was my father. I lived for years without my father and now he came in just like that. I could see my mother's face full of anger._

" _DON'T COME HERE ANYMORE! YOU ARE NOT WELCOMED!" She said her last word to my father._

 _Days and months passed by and my ability, Iron Fist, activated. I told my mother about my ability and she said that I must use my ability wisely. I used my ability for fighting crimes as a vigilante. If you remembered from the news years ago, there was a vigilant hero called Night Fist. Yeah, that was me. I was doing that for a whole year until one day, something happened._

 _That man I recalled as my father came again but this time he got five men behind him. I knew that they up to no good. My mother dragged me to my house's basement. I was never allowed to enter the basement. In the basement, I discovered what my mother has doing for this whole time. She was researching for a cure for ability users. She knew my father disagree with this, so my mother decided to run from the facility bringing me with her all along._

 _She took out kerosene from one of the shelves and poured it all over the basement. She must wanted to clear any traces behind. The men my father brought breaching in to the basement._

" _I must stay to finish my work. You must go and escape." My mother said to me._

" _No! I can't leave you, mother! I will stay and help you with my ability." I said to her._

" _Maki! Listen to me!" She made me looked at her._

 _She made that smile. The smile that she gave me every morning she woke me up. My tears started to fall. She wiped those tears away for me._

" _I have decided to trust you, Maki… Remember to come back to find me…" She said._

" _Mother, we don't have to do this…" I said to her._

" _You have to trust me, Maki…" She said and lit the lighter on her hand._

 _My mother gave me a key and made me hold that firmly. I wanted to ask what it is._

" _Keep this, okay?" She said._

" _THERE YOU ARE!" My father shouted._

 _My father grabbed my mother's weak body and forced her to get up. She looked at me and smiled at me. She threw the lighter to the floor and lit the whole basement in fire. My father's men grabbed me from behind. I struggled to let go but they stun gunned me and I fell weak._

" _Why did you do this to me, Father?! Why did you do this to Mother?!" I yelled with my last remaining power left._

" _I'm sorry but this is for your mother." He said._

 _My weakened body was dragged away by three men. My eyes started to become blurry in the raging fires but I still struggled to let go._

" _No, no! Honey! Don't do that to Maki! Maki! MAKI!"_

" _Why talking sweet now, huh?!"_

 _My vision gone dark and I fell into unconsciousness. When I woke up, everything was bright. It was the sun in a clear blue sky. Someone patted my shoulder. I turned and saw him. Otosaka Shunusuke. He was there with his brother, Otosaka Yuu. They told me the situation that the men who dragged me were neutralized and I was safe. But I never feel safe until now. My father is a traitor and my mother is still out there somewhere. I entered Houshinoumi Academy and joined the student council before my ability was taken away by Otosaka-senpai._

* * *

When Maki finished her story, her tears have streamed from her eyes. She sobbed and could not hold her tears any longer. All this time, she hid her pain and lived on. She locked her heart away when her heart felt the pain. Her smiles were all camouflage so she could live on. Ushio felt heart broken when she saw Maki in this state. She could feel her tears streaming, too. She walked closer to Maki and gave her a comforting hug. Maki cried in her embrace.

"Let's stop training for a while and find your mother, Maki-kun." Ushio said.

Maki shocked and looked at Ushio.

"Well, we will have a team challenge, too, right? So why don't we strengthen our bonds?" Ushio said and gave Maki a smile.

"Thank you, Ushio-chan." Maki returned her smile with a much relieved one.

* * *

"So, this was your house?" Ushio asked Maki while reached at Maki's old burned house.

"Yeah, I remember my mother said about come back. So, she must be leaving a trace in here." Maki said.

"It's weird to have your house unexpectedly tidy even it burned." Ushio said.

"Remember few days ago when you found me getting out from infirmary? Yeah, I was clearing this place from any possible threats. I cut the wild grass and made them less creepy. There was few gangsters holed up at this place but I beat the crap out of them." Maki said.

"That's Maki style for me." Ushio said.

They walked into the house and searched for anything that could lead them to Maki's mother. Ushio walked in to a room. From the burned shelves she could identify that this room was a library. She browsed each burned books and found a book that has not damaged too much. She could still read that book. The title said, "The Girl in Illusionary World". She recalled that was the title of her parents play before she was born.

"What did you found, Ushio-chan?" Maki asked.

"A book. Have you read this book?" Ushio asked Maki.

"Oh, I loved this book very much. But I never knew about the ending since it was torn away." Maki said.

"Can I keep this? My parents used to have a play with the same title. My mother said someone told her about a story of a girl in the world that has ended. But she could not recall where she heard that." Ushio said.

"Sure, you can. Think that as my gift for you." Maki said.

Ushio took the book and placed it inside her bag. She wanted to give this book to her parents.

"My mother kept all her experiments down in the basement. Maybe we could find a clue there." Maki said.

They headed to the basement and found everything was burned. Maki sweep all the ash from the floor and found a floor safe.

"I noticed this safe when my mother brought me here for the first time." She said.

Maki let out a key that was around her neck all this time. She crouched and tried to open the safe with the key. Thankfully the key opened the safe. They found a framed photo inside. It was untouched by anything and completely intact. The photo was Maki with her mother smiling into the camera. Maki smiled when she saw the photo.

"I'm home, Mother." She said unconsciously.

Ushio noticed that Maki unconsciously said that. She looked at the photo in Maki's hand. It was a photo when Maki was around 7 years old. Maki has a wide smile the same as her mother's. When Ushio looked at Maki's mother photo she could not resist but remembers Maki. Her resemblance was too much great.

"You are a carbon copy of your mother." Ushio said while looking at the photo

"Yeah, many people said that and I don't know why but I feel happy about peoples saying that to me." Maki said.

"By the way, why this photo is in that safe?" Ushio asked.

"I wonder why." Maki slipped out the photo from the frame and found a small piece of paper behind the photo.

She opened it and found numbers on the paper.

"Coordinate number. It must be where your mother has been held." Ushio said.

She entered the number in her phone and found the location was nearby.

"I am going to give thanks to your mother for leaving such clue for us. Let's go!" Ushio said.

Before they left, Maki quickly folded the photo and shoved it into her pocket.

"Ushio-chan, wait for me!"

* * *

They found a secret duct hole at the exact position of the coordinates.

"So, they holed up inside the mountain. It's pretty impressive."

"It must be from the exhaust system or something." Ushio said and opened the grating that covered the hole.

"It's pretty big. We can fit in. Come on." Ushio entered the duct hole with Maki.

"How do we find your mother, Maki?" Ushio asked.

"Let's find a way to sneak in and acquire information from the inside." Maki said.

They crawled through the duct hole and found a vent grating that led to guard's locker room. The room looked empty. They sneakily entered the room and searched anything so they could cover up into disguises.

"Ushio-chan, this locker is unlocked and there are two guard uniforms inside. Let's change and blend in." Maki said.

They quickly changed into guard's attire and stored their clothing in the locker. Maki locked the locker so no one notice. She put on a helmet and a goggle so no one suspect her as her mother's daughter.

"Here, take this." Ushio gave Maki a rifle and some ammo from the gun cabinet.

"But I never use this thing. And I never want to kill anybody." Maki said.

Ushio reloaded two handguns and put one inside the holster on her attire and gave another one to Maki. She took a rifle and some ammo, too.

"Maki, hear me. They are not hesitating to kill you if they spotted you. They are not some cops on the road. They are soldiers here. We must prepare for the worst but still avoid violence as possible." Ushio said.

"Well, I don't know why Doctor Aramaki wants this woman so badly." A woman guard who entered the locker room said.

"If the other side gets her, we could not conduct any experiments. They paid him so high just for this experiment. Not to mention, our payment." Another one said.

"Yeah, you are right. But why locking up the woman for years in that same cell?"

"I don't know but maybe the cell number has some meaning. Not to mention the blood that smeared all over that place before she came here."

"1118, right? Maybe… Hey, intruders!" Ushio and Maki knocked the two women guards unconscious. They searched the body and dragged the unconscious body to a small locker and put them there.

"I got the access key." Ushio said.

"Okay, cell 1118. I don't know why but maybe my father has some grudge over me. Come on let's go before they woke up." Maki said.

They searched for cell 1118 immediately. The facility was so huge that they almost lost but finally found the way to the cell. The cell was unguarded leaving Maki anxious.

"This is strange, why there are no guards here?" Maki asked.

Ushio swiped the access key and opened the door. The room was dark and they saw Maki's mother sitting on the floor in chains and blindfolded. Ushio and Maki entered the cell and closed the door. Maki's mother flinched away from their footsteps.

"Wh… What is it? I won't tell you. Don't come closer." She said.

Maki was trembled to see her mother like this. She borrowed Ushio's stolen access key and walked closer to her mother. Her steps echoed in the room. Strangely, her mother stopped flinching like she knew who came. As she came closer to her mother, her mother seemed to have more curiosity over her.

"Maki-chan?" Her mother said. Maki froze.

"I could hear your footsteps. Is that you?" Her mother asked again.

"What am I talking? I must be hallucinating." She said.

Maki swiped the card and unlocked the chains. Maki's mother wondered with what just happened. She took off her blindfold and saw it all. Her daughter was in front of her with tears streamed from her eyes. Maki's mother wiped those tears away from her face.

"It's not usual to see you cry, Maki-chan. I remember you as a strong girl. So, be a strong girl, Maki-chan." She said to Maki.

Maki's mother embraced Maki to comfort her. Maki cried in her embrace for a while and gave a huge grin smile to her mother. One weight lifted from Maki's heart. Ushio smiled as she saw this. Maki's mother noticed Ushio who was standing in front of the cell door.

"Are you Nagisa-chan? No, you must be not. Furukawa Nagisa-chan must be around my age." Maki's mother said while looking into Ushio's eyes.

"Furukawa Nagisa? You know my mother?" Ushio confused.

"You have your mother's eyes. I got along with your mother when I was a little." She answered.

"Is she your friend, Maki-chan?" She asked Maki.

"Yes, she is Okazaki Ushio. Ushio-chan, this is my mother." Maki introduced.

"Just call me, Hana-san. You must be as kind as your mother, Ushio-chan." Maki's mother said.

"Umm… Thanks but we have to get out from here." Ushio said and let Maki help her mother stand up.

Ushio opened the cell door and shocked as the guards already surrounded them. A fairly old man stood in front of the guards.

"Well, isn't it my daughter, Maki? I was reckless to leave you with my guards back then. If I escorted you by myself maybe I could discover the secrets behind the abilities and manipulate it into my own. But I think now it's too late. That boy, One-Eyed Shinigami, must has taken your ability and every single other abilities away. Now we could not stand a chance against One-Eyed Shinigami. But still, you bring me the last ability wielder here, Maki. That's good." Maki's father said. Ushio expression started to change.

"Don't hear him, Ushio-chan. He just wanted to play with your mind. You trust me, right?" Maki said.

The armosphere became awkwardly silent. Maki's father grew a smile as he thought this was a victory.

"You think she brought me here, sir?" She said.

Ushio's expression was unreadable and suddenly turned into a furious one.

"You are wrong, sir! I'm not here because she asked me to. I'm not here because she told me about her life story. But I'm here because I want to see Maki smile from her heart. I want her to be free!" Maki shocked from Ushio's words but quickly snapped after Ushio threw a smoke grenade to the guards.

Ushio grabbed Maki and Maki's mother wrists and dragged them to the locker room.

"Run in front of me! I will slow them down!" Ushio yelled and turned her body to face the enemies.

She fired the rifle she was bringing along to the guards until the last bullet. She threw the rifle away after the rifle out of bullet. She switched into hand gun and tried as fast as she could to slow the enemies. They arrived at the locker room. They picked their clothes fast but…

"Well, aren't they the intruders we met earlier?" Two guards were blocking the way out. They were the ones who knocked unconscious before.

"There you are!" Maki's father yelled from the front of the locker room. They were trapped.

Ushio felt panic and fear through her body. She could feel her heartbeat increasing. She knew what would going to happen to her. Her bloodlust would activate. Her eyes started to change color into blood red. She could feel energy flowing through her whole body.

Before she could lose it, Maki's mother held Ushio's shoulder.

"Please, save my daughter. You want her to be free, right? Leave me be. Drag her as fast as you can. Take care of Maki-chan, please." Maki's mother said to Ushio.

"Please, Ushio-chan. Tell her, I'll be okay and I will always love her." She said again.

Ushio turned away so she could make her guts into leaving Maki's mother. Ushio activated her bloodlust and threw fists to the guards surrounding them.

"THAT KID'S ACTIVATING HER ABILITY!" Maki's father yelled.

Ushio fought them and tried as she could to clear away the path. Suddenly, Maki's mother snatched away by one of Maki's father guards.

"MOTHER! NO!" Maki yelled.

" _Go, Ushio-chan… Take care of her…"_

"I'M SORRY MAKI!" Ushio carried Maki's body away and exited through the duct hole as fast as she could.

* * *

Ushio continued to run until they reached the town. She stopped and let Maki down. Ushio was facing down unable to see Maki in her eyes.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, USHIO?!" Maki started to yell.

"WHY ARE YOU LEAVING HER?!" She yelled again and grabbed Ushio's collar.

Ushio was crying with her eyes still in blood red color. Even in her bloodlust, she could not hold her tears. Maki was stunned by this.

"I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY…" She said repeatedly until her eyes turned into normal.

"Your mother wants me to take you with me and leave her. She wants me to make you safe. She… She…" Ushio still cried.

"She wants you to know that she will be okay and she will always love you. I'm sorry, Maki-kun. I'm sorry, Maki-kun." Ushio continued.

Maki let Ushio go. She felt wrong about herself. She was rushing with herself. Yet, she was feeling a bit relieved when she knew that her mother would always love her. She couldn't help herself but smile as a huge weight lifted from her heart.

"Thank you, Ushio-chan. I'm sorry that I have doubted you. Let's continue with our arcade training, shall we?" She said giving Ushio a smile from her heart while letting out tears of happiness.

Then again, Maki realized that Ushio wanted to make her happy and free. She said that pretty clearly when they were cornered. Maki wanted Ushio to trust her and she wanted to trust her back. She suddenly has a childish idea popping inside her head.

"Promise to me that starting from now, you will trust me with your heart and I will do the same." She raised her pinkie.

"I promise." Ushio said as she intertwined her pinkie with Maki's.

Ushio replied her smile and laughed together with Maki. That day, Ushio started a new page called best friend with a girl named Azumaya Maki and she will remember this forever.

* * *

ARC 1 : BEHIND THOSE SMILE - TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Chapter 8 (ARC 1 - PART 4)

"I heard that yesterday you two breached into a research facility and came back alive. How you do that?" Shiki asked Maki and Ushio while having a brief meeting.

"Now, everybody in school is eager to watch your battle against the gangster in arcade games." Shiki continued.

"That's a hell of report for today." Maki said.

"Azumaya-senpai, Okazaki-senpai, I wish you good luck. Here's something for you." A girl with her friends gave Maki and Ushio Yakisoba breads.

"Thank you, we appreciate this!" Ushio said.

"Ushio-chan! I heard you and Maki breached into that research facility to find Maki's mother. That was very brave and a kind of you to help her. Good luck with your battle! I'm rooting for you." A second year girl said to them and ran off.

"See, you got fans all over this school now." Shiki said.

"Uhm… Shiki-kun." The first year girl who gave Ushio and Maki breads were not leaving yet.

"Here, take this!" The girl gave Shiki a Yakisoba bread while blushing.

"Thank you, Nagato-san." Shiki said. Nagato dashed from Shiki's view range.

"You got your own fans, too. Who is her and how did you know her?" Ushio asked.

"That's Nagato from class 1-C. Because whole of my class were agreeing to see your match, I thought that wasn't enough. So, I spread the words to all freshmen." Shiki said.

"Hmm…" Ushio grew a small smile on her lips.

"We still need your help by the way, Shiki." Ushio said.

"What is it?" Shiki asked back.

"I want you to make sure the student council members watching us in that day. Just barge in to the student council room at lunch. The seniors should be there." Ushio said.

"Is it okay for me to go there?" Shiki asked.

"Just say that you are there by my request. They should know what that mean. I and Maki have already had a permission to leave the school earlier to train for the challenge. So, we will be gone at lunch." Ushio said.

"Okay, if you get that, we should get going, the next period will start any minute. Thank you, Shiki-kun." Ushio said and dragged Maki along with her to class.

"What are you going to do with Shiki-kun? I know you have some intentions behind that." Maki said.

"Yeah, you will find it later. For now, let's drag our ass to class and study." Ushio said.

"Why do you still need to study when you are the smartest one in the class, Ushio-chan?" Maki asked lazily.

"Because you are not the smartest one in the class, Maki-kun. So, you need to study." Ushio said while dragging Maki's lazy ass.

* * *

After what happened yesterday, Ushio seemed to be very good at shooting games. For god sake, she was shooting a real gun back then. When Ushio and Maki were playing shooting game skillfully, the guests of the arcade were coming just to see their action.

"Whuoh… These two girls are badass. Even I could not do that." One guest said.

"I heard they will have a challenge against THE Fujimaki." Other guest said.

"Really? I bet these girls could beat him and his insane partner."

As they trained and trained, they gained popularity as the first girl gamer team around town. The words of their challenge with THE Fujimaki have spread around town. And Ushio never thought that the words will eventually reached outside the town.

* * *

It was already Saturday and Ushio and Maki just got home from the arcade. Again, Maki crashed at Ushio's sofa and slept there. Ushio threw a blanket over her sleeping body.

"Could you at least take a bath first?" Ushio mumbled.

She took a bath and did her own homework before went to sleep in her own bed. She didn't want her homework stumble her way to be the winner of the challenge. Ushio could be a little bit competitive you know. She closed her eyes and fell into deep slumber.

She was really tired even she did not have any dream at all. It was dark and peaceful in her mind until someone open her room's door forcefully and woke her up.

"USHIO-CHAN! YOU DON'T WANT TO BELIEVE THIS!" Maki yelled at her and shook her body.

"Stop yelling! It makes me dizzy!" Ushio said while rubbed her now painful head.

"IT'S ON THE NEWS!" Maki still yelled.

"What news? And can't you believe it's still two in the morning. I'm so tired, Maki-kun." Ushio said in sleepy voice.

"Nope, it isn't." Maki stood next to the window and opened the curtain.

"Whoaaaah…" Ushio shocked as the sun light entered directly to Ushio's room.

"It's seven in the morning, Ushio! Wake up and get ready! I tell you the details on our breakfast! I made you breakfast by the way!" Maki said and pulled Ushio from the bed.

After Ushio finished her bath and changed into a casual wear, she could smell eggs and bacons from the kitchen. Maki must use eggs and bacons from the refrigerator. She made a mental note to buy them later.

"Are you cooking my last supply of eggs and bacons?" Ushio asked and saw Maki sporting red hoodie and blue jeans.

"And could you wear something girlish? You look like a boy!" Ushio said.

"I'm sorry for cooking them, I could not find anything else in your refrigerator. And I wear this because it's more comfortable. Boy's clothing is easier and more comfortable than girl's clothing. Why am I looking like a boy? Do you want to argue with my flat chest?" She fumbled.

"Okay, I'm sorry… Washboard." Ushio giggled and made Maki fuming.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, for real this time. By the way, what do you want to show me?" Ushio sat in front of Maki and started to ravage her breakfast.

"Here, see this!" Maki showed Ushio her phone.

"WHAT? HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?" Ushio said.

"I know, right? Suddenly, the challenge was going viral and got into the news. "

"Eventually, we will going to challenge the gang that has been a problem these days said the news." Maki continued.

"Hmmm… I really wish there is no police to interrupt us or our chance to save Fujimaki will vanish." Ushio said.

"So, have you decided to roll in the next presidency for real?" Maki asked between her breakfast.

"Yeah, after we finish this challenge I'm going to submit it." Ushio said.

"Then, you got me on your back to support you!" Maki said.

"Come on! Let's wash the dishes and go training!" Maki stood up.

"Where do you get that energy so sudden?!"

* * *

"We should not train too much today. I remember you have not finished your homework, Maki-kun and I need to stop by at convenient store." Ushio said to Maki.

"Ah, you are boring…" Maki mumbled.

"Well, you should start to study, Maki-kun or else." Ushio said while pinching Maki's cheek.

"Stahhpp thaht… Okhay… I'm going to study, geez." Maki said and Ushio let her go.

"That's more like it."

Ushio and Maki entered the arcade and found a familiar person playing a shooting game in a killing spree. They saw someone equally familiar clinging on his left arm.

"Otosaka-senpai? Tomori-senpai? You are on a date or something?" Maki asked them pretty loud and received a you-are-disturbing-them fist from Ushio.

Tomori and Otosaka turned into them and blushed. Tomori let go of Otosaka and tried be as normal as she could. Ushio gave Maki another can't-you-see-the-situation fist.

"Maki-kun, Okazaki-san, what are you doing here?" Tomori said nervously.

"As usual. We are going to train for the challenge." Ushio said.

"Ooh… So, you are going to challenge them in shooting game, right?" Otosaka asked in a cocky smile.

"Yeah, if I recall." Ushio answered.

"If you want to fight them, then you must beat me first." Otosaka said.

"The best of you versus me. Who will get the best score, you or me?" Otosaka continued.

"BRING IT ON! USHIO! YOU GO!" Maki said before Ushio could say anything about this.

"Then it's settled." Otosaka said and inserted coins for the next game.

He gave a gesture to let Ushio take her place on the right console. Ushio gave Maki a why-me fist before took her place and inserted coins.

"Nao, you could sit and see me winning." Otosaka said.

"Don't get too cocky, Yuu-kun. I know you still a cheater bastard inside." Tomori said while giving her boyfriend a hey-you-are-too-cocky fist to his head.

"So, you two are secretly having a date in an arcade, huh?" Maki teased Tomori and got a flying kick from Tomori.

"Is there a problem if its yes?" Tomori said while foot choking Maki.

While Maki was dying on the arcade walls, Ushio and Otosaka began their game. They both were a fast paced. They were neck-to-neck and we didn't know who will win.

"Even you are a one-eyed man, you have a ridiculous amount of nerves. How could you pick a pace as fast as me?" Ushio said.

"Hmph… Don't judge people from the cover!" Otosaka gave another cocky smile.

For almost the whole storyline, their score were neck-to-neck and the boss level was on the go. Shoot. Shoot. Close call. BAM. Otosaka was finally getting a hit from the last boss. Ushio took this chance to advance her score a little bit higher than Otosaka. Finally, she won the game and Otosaka must swallow his pride away.

"Okay, you lose, Otosaka-senpai." Ushio gave him a cocky smile.

"Guess this cheater bastard never changes." Tomori said to Otosaka. He let a sigh.

"It's fun to play with you, Okazaki-san. I look after for your challenge. Win the game for all of us, kay?" Otosaka said.

"We will! Now, if you excuse us, we will have some training to go. Come on, Maki-kun." Ushio dragged Maki's body to the fighting game section.

* * *

Night came quicker than they thought. Ushio and Maki went home earlier so Maki could finish her never finished homework. They stopped by at a convenient store to buy some supply and went straight to the apartment.

"Pick your homework in your room and take it to my room so I could supervise you. I don't think you will do it if no one's watching." Ushio said.

"Urgh… Fine…" Maki said in a monotone voice.

Takajo was just arrived at his apartment and were trying to open his door when Maki and Ushio arrived.

"Takajo-senpai! Where were you from?" Ushio asked him.

"Just walking out to refresh my head. How's your training?" Takajo asked.

"Psst… I'm going to fetch my homework…" Maki said and sneakily dashed out from the scene.

"Yeah, it's fine. We decided to go home early or Maki would not do her homework." Ushio said to Takajo ignoring Maki.

"I'm looking after your match. I will be there watching you in the front seats." Takajo said and made Ushio blushing.

"Uhm… Yeah, thank you." Ushio said nervously.

"Uhh… Could you two cut your romances? I need to finish my homework." Maki said from behind.

"Oh, yeah. See you later, Takajo-senpai." Ushio waved at him.

"Yeah." Takajo said, let out a sigh, and smiled to himself.

* * *

"It's hard, Ushio-chan. I don't think I could do this." Maki groaned.

"Yeah, and that's why you will eventually not get any smarter." Ushio said.

"By the way, what's your deal with Takajo-senpai. It seems the gossip is not just a gossip." Maki gave Ushio a mischief smile.

Ushio started to blush.

"Don't think anything wrong, okay?" Ushio denied.

"Then it's true, right? YOU LIIIIKEE HIIM…." Maki teased and received a pillow thrown by Ushio herself in a speed of a professional pitcher.

She will definitely get killed in the end of the day.

* * *

Finally, it was the challenge day. Everybody in the school gave Ushio and Maki good luck gifts from food to assortments. The two of them were overwhelmed. Even the teacher wished them good luck.

"Shiki-kun!" Maki called him.

"Maki-kun-senpai! Okazaki-senpai! Good morning!" Shiki greeted them.

"So, how's your day in the student council?" Ushio asked.

"What? So, you decided to pick Shiki-kun to be the freshmen representative?" Maki shocked.

"Yeah, I got permission from Tomori-senpai. So, it's okay." Ushio said.

"My starting days in the student council is great! Otosaka-senpai is cool you know." Shiki said.

"Yeah, cool enough to swallow his cockiness away." Ushio said.

"By the way, good luck at your challenge, Senpai. The student council will come and watch the match." Shiki said.

"That's great! Just watch and pray that we will win." Ushio said.

"Come on, Ushio we got to go to the arcade!" Maki dragged Ushio out of the school.

The arcade was already full with many game enthusiasts from various city already crowded the place. Various Houshinoumi Academy students have taken place in front seats. The student council members have taken place in the very front with students from class 1-A behind them. Even there's news crew in this place. Ushio took a deep breath and hoped that everything will be okay.

"Hmm… So, you already here, huh? Let's get started than. Boys, bring Fujimaki here!" The gangster said and commanded his subordinate.

They brought out Fujimaki and let him sit on the fighting game bench.

"First, fighting game. It will be a tag team game. You shall show us the best." The gangster said.

"Bring it on!" Maki said without any thinking.

The game started and broadcasted in a huge screen. Each punches, each kicks, made all the spectators took a sharp breath. They were unsure who will win. Sweats were rolling. Fujimaki sure a great gamer. He fought, he dodged, and he countered every single move Ushio or Maki made. As Ushio and Maki did that too. They fought neck-to-neck and Ushio and Maki must admit that they lost in the first round. The second round was a hot one too. Ushio and Maki started to became more aggressive than ever. They managed to beat the gangster and Fujimaki. The last round was full of anxiousness. The arcade became so tense as they all waiting for the victor to come. Ushio and Maki kept as silent as they could so the enemy could not read their next move and strategy. In the other side, the gangster kept rambling about how Ushio and Maki became so expert in fighting game and kept mocking them to make them lose their focus. But nonetheless, the one who lost his focus was Fujimaki as he wanted to become free as fast as possible. Fujimaki lost his focus in the last moves and made a hole for Maki to enter and beat Fujimaki.

"You may win this one kid. How about we step in to the next game, shall we? Come on, Fujimaki!" The gangster said to intimidate Maki and Ushio.

The next game is a racing game. 4 player PVP. The first lap went well and Ushio and Maki managed to secure the 2nd and 3rd while Fujimaki was on the 1st and the gangster on the 4th. Everything seemed okay until the gangster decided to cheat. He gave a signal to one of his boys to hack the system for entire second lap. Ushio and Maki could not control their car, resulted in their position were falling behind, and lost.

"Hey! That's cheating! I could see that with my eye!" Otosaka stood up but stopped by Tomori.

"You bastard!" Maki started to charge at the gangster only to be stopped by Ushio.

"Calm down, Maki-kun. We do this to avoid violence, remember?" Ushio said to Maki and made Maki calm down a bit.

"Guess you are a cheat coward, huh? How about we play the next game clean? Fujimaki versus me and no interruption from anyone. I'll make Otosaka-senpai keep an eye on you." Ushio said to intimidate the gangster.

"Fine! You get your wish. But remember not to cry if you lose, crybaby." He said.

"We'll see who will cry." Ushio taunted him.

The shooting game was started. Ushio started a quick pace as quick as when she fought Otosaka. Fortunately, Fujimaki still far slower than Otosaka.

"That's impossible! How could you have so much speed?" The gangster yelled.

"I trained from the best, you know?" She said while still in game giving a gesture to Otosaka.

Even Fujimaki was the best at this game, no one could beat Otosaka in shooting games. After his painful days in the cause of his sister "death", he became a shooting game expert in no time. He kept this trace even when he got back to the time before his sister's death and secretly took Tomori on a date in an arcade. Ushio was grateful that she met Otosaka earlier in the arcade so she could have a match with him.

After levels and levels, Ushio finally won the game by score. Everybody in arcade cheered and no sign of stopping. Fujimaki ran into Ushio and gave her a friendly hug.

"NO! IT CAN'T BE LIKE THIS!" The gangster yelled.

He took out a handgun and pointed them to Ushio. The other gangsters followed him and took out their handguns, too.

"BRING THE ASSET!" He yelled again.

The gangsters formed a line and opened a way for someone. He brought a figure of a fragile woman on his side.

"Father…" Maki said.

"Good work, boy. You made them took the bait. Hello, Maki-chan. Long time no see. Want to see your mother, right?" Maki's father said and dragged Maki's mother to his side forcefully.

"Mother!" Maki yelled and started to charge at her father but stopped by Ushio because of the enemies have pointed guns to their heads.

"Hehe… Don't make stupid move or we will shoot your brain into pieces." He taunted.

Then a gangster member grabbed Maki and pointed a gun at her head directly. Ushio could feel her blood pressure was rising quickly. She knew she must hold it but she couldn't this time. She has held her anger and her bloodlust for a long time. She could not hold her ability any longer. Hold it… Hold it…

"Hold it… Hold it…" Her thought escaped through her lips as the effect of her overflowing bloodlust.

Takajo who saw this immediately ran into the scene. He knew already, Ushio would go into her bloodlust. He was sure she was holding her bloodlust from the beginning just to avoid violence. But before he could run closer to hold Ushio, a gangster pointed a handgun directly into his head. Ushio saw this and started to lose control. Her eyes started to change color. Luckily, the enemy hasn't realized this yet.

"Let go of Maki-kun and Takajo-senpai." Ushio said in a very low tone.

"What is it, girl? I can't hear you." Maki's father walked closer to Ushio.

"I SAID LET GO OF MAKI-KUN AND TAKAJO-SENPAI, MOTHERFUCKER!" She unleashed her bloodlust, threw a powerful fist to Maki's father and sent him flying.

"Shit! She's using her power!" Before the gangster could pull their trigger, Ushio has already punched or kicked them unconscious.

She took down every single gangster in the room and made the audiences shock. After she finished all of them, she looked into Maki's father and walked towards him. She put him under her and started to give him mounted punches.

"LET GO!" Punch.

"LET GO!" Punch.

"LET GO!" She pulled her fist a bit further for her final blow.

"OKAZAKI!" Takajo yelled at her.

She took a glance at Takajo who walked closer to her before she could land her final blow to Maki's father's face. Her bloodlust was fighting with her mind. She wanted to stop very badly. But her bloodlust has taken control and nothing could stop it. She thought any possible move to make her bloodlust go away.

" _You want me to stop, huh? Then let me take control of you…"_

And before she could realize it, she stood up, grabbed Takajo, and kissed him deeply. Everybody in the room was shocked. They have their jaws on the floor. She kissed him until her bloodlust went away and finally she fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Ushio woke up in the white sheets of her bed. Was that just a dream? But she realized that was not a dream when she saw Maki, Tomori, and Yusa on the side of her bed.

"Thank god, you finally awake!" Maki said.

"How long I have been out?" Ushio asked.

"About four hours since your bloodlust activated." Tomori answered.

"Where are your parents Maki?" Ushio asked.

"My mother will live in Otosaka Shunusuke-san's research facility. Thanks to you, she is all right. My father, well, he knocked unconscious by you but he will be sent to the jail for murder attempt, kidnaping, and intimidation. You, however, escaped from police since your acts are merely self-defense. Thank you, Ushio-chan. You saved my mother and tried so hard to not kill my father." Maki said and smiled with a new kind of smile. A smile without any bound behind it.

Ushio felt relieved to see this. She finally made Maki smile with her own heart. But suddenly, she remembered what happened. Before she collapsed she remembered that she kissed Takajo. Her face went to red when she remembered this.

"H… How about Takajo-senpai?" Ushio asked nervously.

"Well, that was a hell of kiss you were giving him. That's going to be the school gossip for months!" Tomori said.

Well, that's going to be a hell for Ushio's school days then…

* * *

ARC 1 : BEHIND THOSE SMILE - FINISH. BUT DON'T GO ANYWHERE BECAUSE THE STORY WILL CONTINUE!

* * *

A/N : Sorry for late submit. I was overwhelmed with my college's tasks. But I managed to almost finish chapter 9. SO don't worry, you will get chapter 9 soon!


	9. Chapter 9 (ARC 2 - PART 1)

A/N : It's November 18th and it's Maki-kun's birthday! This story uploaded in Maki-kun's birthday!

* * *

It's another day in Houshinoumi Academy. The sun shining, the breeze is cool, and it's perfect for starting a good day. As usual, Maki and Ushio chatted in the class while the period was changing. Since Ushio helped Maki to find her mother in a research facility, they have gotten closer. The second year students started to respect Ushio because she was brave enough to jump in to save her best friend and help her. Many girls started to admire Ushio and many boys started to like her. But most boys gave up on her since… Well you know it when. Ushio have decided to officially jump in the next presidency and became a single candidate because everybody knows no one will beat Ushio this time. Maki's and Ushio's phone started to ring. They read the message. It was from Tomori.

"Hmm… Tomori-senpai asked us to come to the student council room at lunch. Girls only?" Ushio said.

"That's rare. Tomori-senpai never summoned us in specified requirement." Maki said.

"Well, let's check it out on lunch. Do you bring bento today, Maki-kun?" Ushio asked.

"Yes, I do! Let's eat it in the student council room." Maki said in her signature wide smile.

Ushio and Maki headed straight to the student council room after the lunch break started.

"How is your campaign by the way?" Maki asked Ushio.

"Thanks to you I have acquired devotees from first year and second year. Being a single candidate is pretty hard. You must have whole school on your back. Oh, here we are." Ushio said.

"Okazaki-san, Maki-kun, you finally came! Let's have this door locked now." Tomori said as she locked the door behind her.

"Tomori-san, it's so rare that you just invited the girls. Is there a problem?" Yusa asked her.

Tomori kept her head down as she walked to her desk and leaned on it. Ushio and Maki sat on the sofa and started to eat their bento.

"There's something I want to ask." Tomori started to open up. She showed her face. She was blushing so hard. But why?

"Ma… Maki-kun, you are good with boys, right?" Tomori asked her.

"Yes, if I recall." Maki answered.

"O… Okazaki-san, you are so close to Takajo-san, right?" Tomori asked again.

"H… Hey, don't start that!" Ushio started to blush. _*She definitely has something with him, Maki thought*_

"Ku… Kurobane-san, you have played in many dramas, right?" Tomori asked again.

"Yes, I am, Tomori-san. Is there anything I could help?" Yusa asked.

"W… We… Well… This is kinda embarrassing. It's really out of my character." Tomori turned.

"WHAAAAT? YOU HAVE NOT KISSED OTOSAKA-SENPAI YET?" Ushio and Maki yelled together.

"Don't yell like that." Tomori gave them a sweet fist to their respective heads.

"That's why I call you all here. I need your help." Tomori continued.

"It's really out of my character to beg something romantic. But days and days I grew impatient. Gah! Thinking about myself thinking about romantic things makes me feel disgust toward myself." Tomori said while blushing so hard.

Ushio, Maki, and Yusa looked at Tomori in a blank expression.

" _It's totally not her…"_ They thought in the same time.

"But I think it's a little bit making sense for Tomori-senpai to grow impatient toward things around her. Tomori-senpai is a short tempered and it made her impatient." Maki said and received another fist on her head.

"Ow… ow… That's hurt…"

"Is there anyone want to comment?" Tomori showed her fist to everyone.

"Maki is right, Tomori-senpai. I think there's only two solution of this problem. One, you have to wait for Otosaka-senpai make his move. I think this option is not the best one since you have a short temper. Two…" Ushio made a pause.

"You should be the one who is taking the initiative." Ushio said in a serious tone.

"You are talking like you have kissed Takajo. Oh, you did have kissed him." Tomori said.

"Hey, don't start on that! That's my bloodlust you are talking about!" Ushio said.

"Tomori-san, will be this your first kiss?" Yusa asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, so what?" Tomori said.

"Then you should make this a special one maybe in a special date or something." Yusa said.

"Yeah, maybe in your anniversary, birthday, or something. Some when you can't ever forget." Maki said.

"Two days from now. It was the first day of my encounter with him two years ago. The day I got him transferred to this school." Tomori said.

"Then you should kiss him on that day. It would be special, right? You should be the one who take the initiative by the way." Ushio said.

Suddenly, Tomori's phone rang out loud. She looked into her phone and shocked.

"Yuu-kun asked me to have a picnic on Saturday night." She said.

"Wow, that's perfect. Now you just need a perfect timing to kiss him!" Yusa said.

* * *

Shiki headed to cafeteria today. He just got a message from Otosaka about a small meeting between boys of the student council. He wondered why it's just between the boys. He saw Takajo already sitting with Otosaka.

"I have already bought you a lunch, so please take a seat, Shiki-kun." Otosaka said.

"So, what's going on with this boys only meeting?" Shiki asked.

"Shiki-kun, you are good with girls, right?" Otosaka asked.

"I think so, why?" Shiki answered.

"Takajo, you are now close with Okazaki-san, right?" Otosaka said.

Takajo kept silent just to avoid further questions.

"Well, I need to know what's in girls mind. Nao has been acting really weird these days like she is hiding something." Otosaka admitted.

"Maybe it's related to your relationship with her, Otosaka-senpai." Shiki said.

"Have you done anything to her lately?" Shiki asked.

"Nothing in particular. Hey, why are you asking this?" Otosaka asked.

"Sometimes girls worry about something you have done to her. Or something you haven't done yet." Shiki said.

"By the way, you have stayed in a hell of silent for a little bit a while, Takajo-senpai." Shiki said to Takajo.

"Oh, yeah, what is it?" Takajo snapped out. _*He's totally like her, Otosaka and Shiki thought.*_

"Shiki-kun, what do you mean of something I have done or I haven't done?" Otosaka asked.

"If you haven't done anything earlier, then I will ask this. Have you kissed her, Otosaka-senpai?" Shiki asked.

"Tomori-san is an impatient one so it's possible she worries about not getting any kiss from you." Takajo said.

"Well, you are now talking like you have kissed Okazaki-san. Oh that's right, she did have kissed you." Otosaka commented.

"H… Hey don't start on that…" Takajo denied.

"So, what should I do? Should I kiss her straight forward?" Otosaka asked.

"You are a senior and now you are talking like a junior high school student who went to his first date." Shiki said.

"For Tomori's first kiss, you should make it special." Takajo said.

"Sunday, it was the first time I encountered her. Maybe I should set up a picnic that day only with her." Otosaka said.

"Then it's settled." Without Otosaka's knowing, Otosaka's phone was already on Shiki's hand.

"Let's write this. Let's have a picnic on Saturday night. I'll wait for you in front of your apartment room. Bring foods as many as you can. I will bring drinks and take you to where we will have the picnic." Shiki said as he wrote a message on Otosaka's phone and sent it to Tomori.

"Hey, that's my phone!" Otosaka said.

"Well, it's too late now. Let's plan it. You should do your kiss under the stars. It's more romantic." Shiki said.

"Where do you think it would be?" Otosaka asked.

"Maybe in the forest when we have a camping while we still first grade. Remember?" Takajo suggested.

"Ah, I remember. That would be a perfect place. Then I will get permission from the land owner. I think they would agree." Otosaka got his phone back and searched for the number of the land owner.

"Ah, I got it. I should call him and plan a great picnic for Nao. Gotta go." Otosaka left the table to make a call.

"Do we need to help him more?" Takajo asked Shiki.

"Nope. I think I will help you with Okazaki-senpai. You know that she is going for the next student council president, right?" Shiki asked and answered by a nod from Takajo.

"Then you know that she is a single candidate that should have the whole school on her back. Help her get devotees from senior." Shiki said to Takajo while getting up from his seat.

"You know, Shiki-kun. I have promised to her to help her with this." Takajo said to Shiki.

"That's good for you then. I'm going back to my class. See you, Takajo-senpai." He left.

* * *

Ushio felt exhausted today. After school ended, Maki invited her to go to the arcade again. Since Maki knew about Ushio's skill in arcade games, she invited Ushio to be her partner in playing games. What a best friend she is.

"But Maki-kun, you don't need to follow me to my apartment room, okay? Yours is next door. Eh, you already sleep, huh?" Ushio saw Maki slept on her sofa.

"I'll drag her tomorrow morning before school then." She took a blanket and put it on Maki.

Ushio's phone was ringing out loud. She picked up her phone and saw that her parents called her. She quickly answered.

"Hello…"

"Ah, Shio-chan. How are you, Shio-chan? How is school?" Nagisa asked.

"Mama, I'm okay here. The school is fun. I'm rolling in for the next student council president. I'm a single candidate so I must gather devotees from the whole school. I have gotten first year and second year devotees. Next week I will start to make the third year students agree with me as the student council president." Ushio said.

"That's great Shio-chan. By the way, we want to visit you this Saturday. Is that okay, Shio-chan?" Nagisa asked.

"Can I invite Maki-kun and Takajo-senpai over? Maki-kun and Takajo-senpai are my neighbors, too." Ushio asked her mother.

"Sure, why not? I want to know more about this Maki-kun, too. She is your new best friend, right?"

"Yes, she is. The tomboy girl I said before. She's sleeping on my sofa right now. She is too tired to move after we played in the arcade." Ushio said.

"Just don't forget to wake her up in the morning before school. Be a good girl, okay?" Nagisa said.

"Okay, Mama. Good bye!" Ushio ended the call.

Ushio took a bath and changed into something comfortable. She walked out to her balcony and saw the stars from there.

"Let me guess. Maki-kun crashed at your place again?" A voice said from another balcony nearby.

"Yeah. We just got home from arcade. She invited me again yet she is the one who collapsed." Ushio said.

"Uhm… How should I say this? I'm sorry for kissing you last time my bloodlust took over. I could not control myself back then. I'm… I'm…"

"It's okay. Even you did steal my first kiss, but I think you gave me a new memory that I won't forget." He said and he could see Ushio's face turn into red.

"Takajo-senpai, this Saturday, my parents are coming to visit. Do you want to come over? I'm going to invite Maki-kun, too. You wanted me to tell you if my parents are coming, right?" Ushio asked.

"Yes, I will come over. It would be great. By the way, do you know what happened between Otosaka and Tomori? Otosaka asked me and Shiki-kun about Tomori. And that's why he ended up bringing Tomori to a picnic date at Saturday." Takajo asked.

"Well, Tomori-senpai is growing impatient towards Otosaka-senpai. She wants him to give her a first kiss right away." Ushio answered.

"I hope two of them are okay. Shiki-kun said the same thing about Otosaka has not kissed Tomori yet." Takajo said.

"Now, we could only pray for their safety and their luck." Ushio said.

* * *

The day of the date has come. Tomori prepared food for the picnic. She tried so hard not to ruin this or her first kiss would be ruined. She packed the food into her backpack. She thought that it would be better to move with backpack since Tomori didn't know where Otosaka were going to drag her.

"I should get help from the girls." She sent messages to them.

A reply came from Yusa.

"I'm so sorry Tomori-san. I have work to do now so I could not help you. Have a nice date. Ah, how about Maki-kun and Okazaki-san?" Two messages came in the same time.

"Hmm… From Okazaki-san. Sorry, senpai. My parents are visiting me today and we will have a tour around the town today. Have a nice date with Otosaka-senpai. Maki-kun? I would love to help but Ushio-chan's parents are coming to visit her today. They invited me to go with them and I could not reject that. Have a nice kiss with Otosaka-senpai. So, I think today is on my own!" Tomori said to herself.

Tomori was getting fired up for a while but her spirit gone when she didn't know what to wear to the picnic. She definitely needed help.

In other side, Otosaka did not do very good anyway. He managed to get permission from the land owner but he didn't know what to wear to the picnic.

"Yuu-niichan, do you need any help?" Ayumi asked her brother who stood blankly on the pile of clothing.

"Ayumi… I need help but don't get too excited."

"I need you to pick something to wear for my picnic date with Nao." Otosaka continued.

"Uoooh… So, you are going to a special date with Tomori-neechan! Don't worry! Ayu will make this date a great one!" Ayumi was getting fired up.

"I just need you to pick something for me to wear. Nothing special." Otosaka said to his sister.

"You said picnic, right? Then let's put the fancy one aside. We might want to stick to something comfortable. Jeans would be good. Hmm… A short sleeved shirt would be good. With this T-shirt aand… You look perfect. Oh, you should bring a jacket." Ayumi gave him a jacket.

"Oh, I should go. Ayu has a meeting with her friends. Good luck on your date!" Ayumi dashed out from the apartment room.

The truth was Ayumi was a little bit worried for Tomori. If her brother was acting like that, Tomori who did not have any relatives at home could be worse. She ran to Tomori's apartment room and rang the bell.

"Come on, answer this Tomori-neechan." She said to herself.

Tomori unlocked the door and saw Ayumi drenched in sweat in front of her door.

"I know that you must be needed help. Let Ayu help you!" Ayumi said to Tomori.

"Right in time, Ayumi-chan. I need your help to pick something to wear. Come on get in." Tomori let Ayumi in.

"What should I wear for today, Ayumi-chan? I assume you have heard from your brother that we will go on a picnic date." Tomori asked Ayumi.

"Well, because we are talking about a picnic here, I will pick a casual one. Is that okay for you?" Ayumi asked.

"Everything is okay, at least I don't look ridiculous in front of your brother." Tomori said.

Tomori finished with her clothing and felt less anxious than before. She thanked Ayumi for showing up.

"Okay, Ayu should slip out of your room before Yuu-niichan show up. Good luck on your date, Tomori-oneechan." She dashed out of Tomori's room.

In less than five minutes, a knock boomed on Tomori's door even she knew there's a doorbell for her door. The guy who knocked her door must be very nervous until he forgot about the doorbell. Tomori took a deep breath and opened the door revealing Otosaka Yuu.

"Good afternoon, Yuu-kun." Tomori said.

"G… Good afternoon. You… You look pretty…" Otosaka said nervously while blushing.

"Is that scripted or what?" Tomori asked.

"No… No…. It's not scripted. Come on, let's go. We have a long way ahead." Otoasaka said and took Tomori's hand.

"Wait for me to lock the door!" Tomori said.

* * *

ARC 2 : LONG SATURDAY - TO BE CONTINUED


	10. Chapter 10 (ARC 2 - PART 2)

Again. After Maki crashed at Ushio's place once after they trained for the arcade game challenge, it eventually became a habit that Maki loved to crash at Ushio's place whenever she wanted. This time was because a drool pool made by Maki on Ushio's desk back in class. Maki begged Ushio to help her with her never finished homework and upcoming tests and quizzes.

"Please, Ushio-chan. You are my only hope. I know you are the smartest girl in the class. And I know you will not ignore your best friend who has some difficulties and troubles." Maki begged Ushio while drooling on top of Ushio's desk.

"Fine, just stop making a drool pool on my desk. It's getting more and more disgusting." She said while wiping the drool away.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Maki hugged Ushio forcefully.

And tonight after finished the never finished homework of Azumaya Maki-kun (again), Maki fell asleep on Ushio's couch. Such a surprise for Ushio that Maki is actually a smart girl. Her laziness just made her a total wreck in her score but when she pulled out an all-nighter, she could do tests, quizzes, and every other question easily. That's why she was doing fine in the first year of high school even her quizzes and her homework were destroyed like nuke fallout.

As usual, Ushio put a blanket on Maki before getting ready to sleep (or talk with Takajo in the balcony like usual). Maki only shuffled a bit when the blanket touches her skin. Ushio then walked to her bathroom, took a quick bath, and changed into pajamas. Like it was a habit, she walked to her balcony first before throwing herself to the bed. And as usual, Takajo has waited for Ushio in his balcony.

"Is it becoming a habit that each time Maki crashed at my place you are waiting for me there?" I asked him.

"I don't know but it might be just some coincidence." He said while giving Ushio a huge smile.

"Well, I excuse you this time but next time, I will make you say that this is your habit after all." She fumed.

"Don't say that. What will you say if you are missing me and I'm not here?" He asked her and made her blush.

"I was joking okay, hahaha." He awkwardly laughed.

But when he stopped laugh and looked at Ushio, he caught Ushio staring at him with a sweet smile. The moonlight lit Ushio's smile and made it perfect. Takajo could not resist but look at her in awe. She was beautiful in Takajo's mind.

"Okazaki-san…"

"Ah, look at the time. I should really go to sleep. Don't forget about tomorrow, okay? My parents are coming over! See you!" Ushio dashed to her room leaving Takajo alone.

Ushio was dumbstruck. She felt her heartbeat beating in an abnormal pace. She tried so hard to calm herself down. Why was she staring at Takajo like that? It must be scared him a lot. She threw herself to her bed and tried so hard to go to sleep.

.

.

.

.

.

She still could not sleep. She shut her eyes very intensely to bring herself to sleep.

.

.

.

.

.

Zzzz… zzzz…

* * *

"WHOAH! Who are you?!" Ushio could hear Maki yelled.

Ushio got up from her bed as fast as she could to reach Maki. She was afraid Maki's father's subordinate wanted some revenge or something.

"Hey! Who are you?! A cross dressing boy?" A familiar man voice yelled at Maki.

"What? I'm not a boy! I'm clearly a girl you see." Maki replied the man.

"Akki? Sanae-san?" Ushio shocked to see four familiar figures in her apartment room.

"What are you doing with Maki-kun?" She asked.

"This gender bender is sleeping on your couch with girl uniform! See! His chest is too flat to be a girl." Akio said.

"Hey, what's your problem with flat-chested girl like me?" Maki complained.

"Stop that Akki. She's my best friend, Maki-kun. And she's a girl. I was tutoring her last night until she fell asleep on my couch." Ushio explained.

"Hmph… If Shio-chan said so, I let you go this time, Gender Bender." Akio decided to stick that nickname to Maki and let Maki go.

"What's going on in here, Shio-chan? Old man, are you doing something to Shio-chan?" Tomoya entered the room and followed by Nagisa.

Nagisa shocked and froze as she saw Maki. She could not believe her eyes. She saw her best friend when she was little in Maki.

"Huh, why you just standing there, Nagisa?" Tomoya asked.

Maki took a glance on Nagisa and gave her a huge grin as a welcome and an introduction to Ushio's parents. The smile resembled the smile Nagisa's best friend when she was a little. But it could not be possible since Maki must be around Ushio's age.

"… Hana-kun?" Nagisa said in a little voice.

"You know her, Nagisa?" Tomoya asked.

"Yeah, I got that a lot Mr. Okazaki. And fortunately, my mother had told me once about this. My name is Azumaya Maki, Azumaya Hana's only daughter. Please call me, Maki or Maki-kun. It's very nice to finally meet you, Mrs. Okazaki." Maki gave a deep bow to Nagisa.

Nagisa finally got it. Maki is Hana's daughter and she took a very resemblance from her mother. Nagisa pulled a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Maki-kun. You are really a carbon copy of your mother. How is your mother, Maki-kun? It's been a long time since the last time we meet." Nagisa asked.

"Now, she is fine. Thanks to Ushio-chan, my mother was saved from my ruthless father. Your daughter helped me to find my mother and saved her." Maki said.

"Let's cut out the talk and let's do the playing!" Akio suddenly yelled.

"Playing?" Ushio asked.

"Yes, we're going to play baseball! Come on! Get ready and grab your four eyes boyfriend! You should get ready too, Gender Bender!" Akio said and made Ushio blush with the remark of four eyes boyfriend. He must be referring to Takajo.

"Ah, yeah. Come on Maki, get back to your room and get some change. I'll change and call Takajo to join us." Ushio said to Maki.

"We should have breakfast first. I'll get it ready for all of us and Takajo-kun." Sanae said.

Maki went to her own room and got change into her regular casual outfit. Today, she picked red sleeved hoodie with huge "OPPAI" writing on it.

"What? Saitama wears this. And I don't want to be misunderstood by Akio-san as a boy. Again." Maki said referring to a nickname that has been sticking on her back since this morning.

"Now, where's Takajo-senpai?" Maki asked.

"Well, I… uhh…" Ushio could not explain to Maki what happened last night.

"Is something happened last night?" Maki asked.

"No! There's nothing! I just want to call him now!" She denied and went directly to Takajo's room.

"Well then I will go to your room and talk with your parents or your grandparents while you are flirting with your boyfriend there." Maki said playfully as she entered Ushio's room.

Ushio fumed to herself. She pushed the bell button and waited patiently for Takajo. He finally arrived at the door.

"Uh, Takajo-senpai, are you ready now? We will have a breakfast together with my family and Maki-kun." Ushio said in stuttered words.

"Yes, I'm ready. Is there something wrong, Okazaki-san?" Takajo asked like there's nothing happened between them last night.

"N… No, there's nothing wrong. Come on, we will start to eat the breakfast." Ushio said and went to her room.

* * *

Today's breakfast was simple. Fried rice specially made by Sanae and Nagisa. Maki and Akio have shown their compatibility to each other as they have some same brain of unfunny jokes and punch lines. Tomoya left unimpressed as he saw Akio throwing unfunny jokes to Maki and replied by the awfully unfunny punch lines by Maki.

"Hey, Takajo! Since there are three Okazakis here, I want you to call Ushio by her first name so I won't confuse or whatsoever." Akio said and made Ushio burst.

"Akki!" Ushio complained.

"No, no, it's okay, uhm… Ushio…" When Takajo said Ushio's first name they both blushed.

"Then let me use your first name. Uhm…" Ushio felt not ready to say it.

"Ah, come on! Just call him Jiro-kun!" Maki said.

Ushio turn her head just to hide her shame over this. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, here we go… Then I will call you Jiro-kun from now." Ushio said to Takajo as she gave him a sweet smile of hers.

Takajo looked at Ushio in awe. But they never knew that this thing planned by the notorious Maki-kun and Akio himself. They laughed in victory as their victim falls into their trap.

* * *

"It's been a long time since I held the baseball bat in junior high. I wonder if I still got my hit. Okay! Pitch it, Akki!" Ushio got ready at hitting stance.

"Okay, Shio-chan! Show me what you have gotten for these years!" Akio threw a fast pitch to Ushio.

Ushio saw the ball closer and closer. Like it was a natural reflect, Ushio swung her bat powerful enough to send the ball to the skies. The legendary super home runner from Hikarizaka has awaken from her dormant state. Maki gave a little smirk as she remembered her fierce baseball match against Hikarizaka junior high school team. Maki remembered how she broke the record of Hikarizaka's legendary player for hitting her fast pitch. Even she got out from the game since the others from her team could not hit her pitch, she smiled all day because what she have done could change the game for the rest of Hikarizaka baseball team matches. The Bastard Hitter. For days, weeks, and months, they called Maki with that name.

"Maki-kun! You are next!" Ushio yelled at her.

Ushio gave her the baseball bat and smiled at her. Maki gave her a long pause before replying her smile and said,

"Well, it's been a long time since the last time we met, Hikarizaka's Legendary Player. How does it taste when I broke your pitching record last time?"

"Hmph… It's still a little bit sour in my tongue until now, The Bastard Hitter. Want to try hitting my pitch again? I won't let you hit this time." Ushio said.

"Then try to hold your cries when I'm about to hit your pitch again." Maki replied.

"Uooooh… The match is beginning." Akio said.

"So, they are the ones that being the headlines in sport news for weeks. Ushio, Hikarizaka's Legendary Player, and Maki-kun, The Bastard Hitter. I never knew that the two nicknames were belongs to these two." Takajo said.

From her bag, Ushio pulled a baseball cap she used to wear back when she was in junior high. She wore it proudly to make Maki startled. But that would never startle her.

"Hey, is that The Bastard Hitter? And that's Hikarizaka's Legendary Player! Hey, guys, the junior high baseball legends are here!" A man shouted to his friends to make them come over and watch.

"I bet they are in high school now. What are they doing here? A revenge match?" Another man said.

The park suddenly became crowded of curious people from around town. The two junior high school baseball players that have filled the sport news headlines for weeks were there holding their baseball equipment. People were curious why they were there.

"So, Maki-kun is actually the baseball player Ushio told us for long weeks back when she was in junior high. What a coincidence." Tomoya said.

"Okay, here's the rule! Shio-chan will throw three times. If Maki-kun successfully hit one out of three, Maki-kun wins. If Maki-kun could not hit any of it, Shio-chan wins. By hitting, I don't mean that silly short hit." Akio said.

"But hitting a homerun." Ushio and Akio said together.

"Hmph… Then, BRING IT ON!" Maki taunted Ushio.

Ushio felt herself on fire. She never felt like this since junior high school. It's been a long time since a good spar with another baseball player and she remembered how The Bastard Hitter took a long hit from her fast pitch. She smiled at herself while remembering the infamous scene of The Bastard Hitter ended her pitching spree. Hikarizaka's Legendary Player started to move into a pitching stance followed by The Bastard Hitter moved into her signature batting stance. Ushio took a deep breath before throwing her first pitch at Maki.

Maki saw the ball rolling in the air but she was too late to realize that the ball was too far from her hitting point and knew that she could not hit the ball. The net behind her was creaking loudly as a sign for she missed the ball. Maki mumbled to herself as she was too impatient.

"Losing yourself there, eh?" Ushio taunted her.

"Hmph… Don't get too cocky! We will see who will cry in the end." Maki replied and pulled herself back into batting position again.

Ushio smiled to her brave opponent. She gave Maki a little time to take a breath before she pulled her right arm to throw the ball more powerful. As the ball rolled in the air, everybody could hear the "WHOOOSH…" sound loudly as the ball cutting through the air.

"YOSH!" Maki strengthen her feet grip to the ground as she could see the ball getting closer. She swung fast enough to hit the ball but not powerful enough to make the ball fly into homerun. It was just a silly short hit. Maki mumbled to herself because she knew that didn't count as a hit for the referee, Akio, or for her opponent, Ushio, or even by herself. The Bastard Hitter could do much better than that. She knew that. But she took a deep breath as she knew that hit must be a punch for her opponent even it was not a homerun hit.

"What's wrong? Getting tired, huh?" Maki started to mock her.

"It was not even counts. I know The Bastard Hitter! She could at least score a long hit from that pitch." Ushio replied to calm herself down.

"Then, I will show you the true power of the girl who once called The Bastard Hitter who once ended pitching spree of Hikarizaka's Legendary Player." Maki said while taunting her opponent with her bat.

"Hmph… Suit yourself!" Ushio said and smiled to herself before getting ready for another throw.

Maki pulled herself to the batting position again. This time she held her feet against the ground firmer than ever. Ushio looked into Maki's eyes before she threw the ball and saw fire inside her eyes. Ushio smiled devilishly and gave a little stroke of her ability to the throw. For a second, Maki could saw Ushio's eyes turned red. Maki was getting ready with whatever would happen. But she definitely knew that this throw would be the fastest and the most powerful one. With a huge confident on herself, Maki swung her bat as powerful as she could.

.

.

.

.

"TWACK…"

.

.

.

.

"CRAAAASH…" Maki and Ushio could clearly hear a cracking voice of window.

Maki indeed hit a homerun but she hit a nearby window, too. Maki and Ushio looked at each other in panic. They then shared a smile and laughed at each other as they just did something terrible.

"Bah… You were cheating. That's not fair." Maki said to Ushio.

"Yeah, and you break those glass! That's terrible." Ushio said and made Maki laugh.

"Guess, there's no one win this time." Maki said.

"Yup, let's say this is a temporary truce for Hikarizaka's Legendary Player and The Bastard Hitter and a huge step for Ushio and Maki." Ushio said to Maki.

"By the way, we got to apologize for breaking those windows." Maki said and dragged Ushio along with her.

The audience let a relieved sighs as they left the park. Takajo was still staring at Ushio after he saw the actions of Hikarizaka's Legendary Player.

"Hey, Takajo-kun! Are you staring at my daughter?" Tomoya caught Takajo staring at his daughter.

"Uh… Ah… No…" Takajo answered.

"Hmph… Just say it to her. You like her, right?" Tomoya said.

"You are a good boy. Not to mention the last time we met. You saved her from that gang. And by the look of it, you still keep your promise to me. You have done every possibility available to protect her. I knew what happened last time in this neighborhood arcade." Tomoya gave Takajo a teasing smile.

Takajo looked away from Tomoya to hide his shame. Tomoya gave a supporting pat on Takajo's shoulder. Tomoya got up and picked up his baseball, glove, and the bat that was used by Maki. Tomoya gave Takajo the bat.

"Let's count this as a little test. I know you are a strong man, Takajo-kun." Tomoya challenged Takajo.

Takajo pulled a smile and got up from the picnic.

"Somehow, I felt this had happened once, right Nagisa?" Sanae asked her daughter.

Nagisa just formed a smile on her lips and started to cheer for her husband. Takajo pulled himself in a batting position. He repositioned his glasses before Tomoya threw the baseball…

* * *

"Well, were you insane Jiro-kun? You made us apologize twice in the same time. TWICE." Ushio complained to Takajo.

"I'm sorry Ushio. I didn't mean to get you in trouble." He said to her.

"Huff… You and Papa are the same." Ushio said and shut her mouth in anger.

"Come on, Ushio. Just let it go and enjoy the dinner." Maki said.

After they finished playing baseball, they have a little tour in the city to have a lunch and buy some grocery for dinner. They visited the arcade where they met Shiki, Ryo, and Fujimaki. Then they came back to the condo. Nagisa, Sanae, and Ushio prepared the dinner while Maki, Takajo, Tomoya, and Akio played a game of poker which Akio kept losing. Thank god that they didn't bet on anything.

Ushio just gave Takajo small fists to his shoulder which Takajo said that was too cute. Takajo ruffled Ushio's hair because he could not handle the cuteness and that made Ushio gave Takajo more fists to his shoulder.

"This Gender Bender is really a coincidence person. Everything we have done somehow connected with you. Your mother is Nagisa's friend. You were the only one person who could hit Shio-chan's pitch back in junior high school." Akio said.

"Stop calling me, Gender Bender…" Maki complained.

"Even your hoodie is proclaimed everything, Maki-kun." Ushio said referring to her "OPPAI" hoodie.

"I'm a fan of Saitama and every other anime characters, okay?" Maki defended.

"Hey, let's cheers for this friendship and family." Tomoya said.

"Yes, that would be great!" Ushio said and raised her glass.

"CHEERS!"

* * *

Takajo let Tomoya and Akio to stay at his room while Maki crashed (again) at Ushio's couch and Nagisa and Sanae already fell asleep in Ushio's room. Like usual, when Maki crashed at Ushio's, Ushio would always got to her balcony first before get to sleep. And like usual, Takajo was there waiting for her. Ushio smiled at him with the sweetest smile of hers. The moonlight lit Ushio's smile and made Takajo stare in awe.

"Jiro-kun, let's take some walk! Wait for me in front of my doors and try not to wake anyone, okay?" Ushio said cheerfully.

Takajo fixed his glasses position and gave Ushio a nod for an affirmation. He snuck out of his room quickly and waited for Ushio in front of her door. Ushio got out from her room and smiled brightly at Takajo. She gave her hand for Takajo to take it.

"Come on, let's go." Ushio said and let Takajo held her hand.

* * *

ARC 2 : LONG SATURDAY - TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

A/N : Well, I will start to throw the romance in the next chapter. So, be ready for full of fluffiness in the next chapter!


	11. Chapter 11 (ARC 2 - PART 3)

A/N : From here and on I will refer Otosaka as Yuu, Tomori as Nao and Takajo as Jojiro.

* * *

The ride to the mountains filled with silence and awkwardness as Nao wanted to be closer with Yuu but felt uneasy when she remembered that against her character. Yuu noticed this along the way. Not because he could read her mind but because Nao has been acting weird since they got into the car. Not wanting to make the awkwardness stay any longer, Yuu decided to break the silence.

"Nao…" Yuu said her name to get Nao's attention.

"What?" Nao simply replied and didn't dare to face Yuu.

"Is there something wrong? Did you forget something?" Yuu asked her.

"I'm okay, Yuu-kun. Just…" She could not finish her sentence.

"What is it? You're feeling cold?" Yuu asked again.

"No. It's…" Before Nao could finish her sentence she was pulled closer to Yuu and he placed his arm around Nao.

Nao was a bit dumbstruck at this. She never expected that Yuu would take a step on his own without her guidance like usual. She smiled at herself and leaned on him closer.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

"Is this enough?" Yuu asked.

"More than enough." She said while giving him a sweet smile.

"I'm glad that you like it." Yuu said.

For a few minutes there was a new silence. A comfortable one. Nao decided to close her eyes while hearing the sound of Yuu's heartbeat. Thump… Thump… Thump… His heartbeat leaded her to an inner peace and his warmth brought her into a deep slumber.

Yuu could see that Nao started to fall asleep in his arms. He could saw her shoulder rising and falling as she breathed steadily in her sleep. He picked up his bag and searched for something from his bag. He found a white blind fold and kept it in his pocket. He enjoyed the moment for an hour until he realized that they nearly reached the destination. He started to wake Nao up.

"Nao… Wake up… We will arrive in a few minutes." Yuu said to Nao.

She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them. When she opened her eyes, she could see the sky has turned into dark as the night was trying to take over the day. Nao suddenly realized how far Yuu has taken her. From the time when the sun was still dominating until the moon has taken over the sun dominance for the sake of the night.

"Because this place is a surprise for you, I want you to wear this." He showed her the blind fold.

"Huft… Why should I wear this?" Nao mumbled as she showed a disagree emotion to Yuu.

"Well, I don't want to ruin the surprise. So, please just wear this." He replied.

"Uuh… Okay, fine. Only for this time." Nao surrendered.

Yuu started to blindfold Nao. He carefully bound the fold but still tried to avoid any leakage on the fold.

"Okay, is it too tight?" Yuu asked.

"Hmph… I think, it's fine." Nao answered.

In less than five minutes, the car stopped at the destination. Yuu helped the blindfolded Nao get off from the car and took their belongings with him. He started to guide Nao through a small path between the trees.

"Where will you taking me?" Nao asked.

"We will see soon. Hold yourself there." Yuu said to her.

They arrived at the cliff where Nao told about her favorite band ZHIEND and her dream. When they arrived the sky was very dark and revealed the beautiful stars with full moonlight lit proudly between those stars.

"Okay, we are here. You can unbind your blindfold." Yuu said to Nao.

Nao started to unbind her blindfold by herself. She was shocked to see where Yuu has taken her. She looked at the stars in awe.

"How do you…" Nao wanted to finish her question but she couldn't.

She left speechless at the sight in front of her.

"Well, two years ago was the exact day when I met you for the first time. I was just a cheating fiend back then. And I was lucky you were found me." Yuu said to Nao.

"I brought you back to the place where you gave me that MP3 player and told me about your dreams." Yuu continued.

Nao looked into Yuu's eyes. She gave him the best smile she ever had since years of painful struggle of saving ability wielders for the sake of her brother. Yuu smiled back at her.

"Now, let's set out a camp."

* * *

Ushio dragged Jojiro strolling down the streets while holding his hand. She walked cheerfully and smiled along the way.

"Come on, Jiro-kun! Don't fall behind." Ushio said to Jojiro.

"Be careful, Ushio. Wait for me!" Jojiro said to her.

Jojiro didn't know where Ushio was going to take him. He just let her lead the way. Ushio skipped step along her way and hummed her favorite song all the time. The song that her parents used to sing to her all night when she could not sleep or even when she came back home crying after someone ended her pitching spree. Dango Daikazoku. For Jojiro who never heard that song wondered what song she hummed.

"Ushio, you were humming something. Is that a song?" Jojiro asked.

"Uhm! Dango Daikazoku! You should sing it with me." Ushio said.

"But I don't know the song." He said.

"Then I will teach you. Hear me than repeat okay! Dango… Dango… Dango.. Dango… Dango Daikazoku…" She taught him about the song.

He started to repeat after her. Lines per lines he learned the song that made her calm and happy every time she was feeling down.

"Is this song special for you?" He asked.

"Yes, Mama and Papa always sing it for me since I was born. It calms me down and makes me happy." She said.

Suddenly he wondered about her life story. She lived in a very happy family who supports her every time. He wondered how her parents could make her life so happy and cheerful.

"Papa said to me once, there was a time he experienced something terrible. He never told me to anyone but me. Even Mama didn't know about this." Ushio said to him.

She turned herself to face Jojiro. She took a deep breath and let it go.

"I was born in a cold raging blizzard in my old apartment. Mama struggled badly since she was having a fever and contractions in the same time. Papa said he once experienced them all, Mama's death when giving birth of me." She stopped walking and looked to the ground.

"He fell into stress for years and years. He felt that he should not have met Mama so Mama didn't have to die. After five years, he had a trip just with me. Papa said I was the one who made him realize that he didn't lose everything. He still had me as the one he could protect. But he said something bad happened and I died in his arms. Again, he felt that he should not have met Mama again so I didn't have to die. But he realized that he could not stop himself from not meeting Mama. Then something happened." She looked into Jojiro. Her tears were everywhere.

"Papa said, he came back to the time when I was born. Mama survived from giving birth of me. After that, Papa swore to himself to protect me and Mama. Jiro-kun…" She continued as her tears streamed down her face.

Jojiro came closer and wiped those tears from her face.

"Don't cry, okay?" He said to her.

"I'm sorry but when I remember that story I always cry. I don't know why." She said and gave him a sweet smile.

They walked down the streets until they were arrived at the park. The park was rather empty as it was night and dark. The lighting around the park was not too bright and left the Moon with a task to illuminate the rest of it. Ushio let Jojiro go and spun around the park. She let her long hair swept by the wind. Her face lit under the moonlight and made Jojiro stood there in awe. Then she suddenly stopped spinning around. She took a deep breath and started to talk.

" _Would you like me to take you?"_ She said.

" _To a place in this city, where wishes come true?"_ She continued.

Jojiro looked at Ushio and saw a new side of her there. There was a hope and dreams inside her eye. Ushio closed her eyes and smiled to herself. She opened her eyes again to see Jojiro stared into her eyes.

"Jiro-kun, don't you remember?" She started.

"There was a time I was lost. I was crying out loud." She said to him.

"This boy found me. Here in this very place. Don't you remember?" She asked him again.

" _ **Are you okay?" That boy asked Ushio.**_

 _ **His smile warmed Ushio's lost heart. She stopped crying and shook her head a few times.**_

" _ **Come on! Come with me!" He grabbed Ushio's hand and dragged her…**_

"He asked me to come with him. He dragged me along even I didn't answer anything to him." She continued.

"He treated me in his favorite place and kept bragging how it was the best." She said.

" _ **This place is the best! Isn't it?"…**_

"He helped me found Mama and Papa. Jiro-kun, don't you remember?" She said.

"When I found out who was that boy, I was glad that… That he was able to find me once more. Thank you, Jiro-kun to keep finding me." She gave him a sweet smile as the wind blows and blew her hair revealing her glistening eyes under the moonlight.

* * *

After they finished put up a camp, they sat together closely while gazing at the beautiful stars. Nao started to listen to his heartbeat closely and smiled.

"Yuu-kun…" She called him to get his attention.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"When you were gone, I was feeling empty inside my heart. I listened to this MP3 player to feel connected with you and my brother every time I felt lonely." She took a deep breath.

"Day by day, I felt more and more connected as the song made me remember something from other time. You were there. Crushed but then came back and saved my brother from his pain. After recovered that strange memory, I came to visit my brother a day before ZHIEND's gig. Surprisingly I found the vocalist of ZHIEND stood there and asked me about my brother and you." She leaned closer to him.

"You know, Nao. I'm grateful that you met with me. Even I remember our first meeting didn't feel any good. I remember how you made me humiliated by uncovering the truth of my cheating habit." He said.

"And don't try to hide your jealousy Nao. I know that you hate my ex-girlfriend. You tricked her so she could not meet me recent after I got back here. Kurobane told me." He continued.

"Hmph… I just don't know why you did like that girl. I know she wanted you back because dating a different school student was a trend. And you are a perfect target. She would brag to anyone that she had a boyfriend from another school that travelling around the world for a year if she dated you." Nao gave a stern look.

"It's because I was just fiend who likes to cheat back then and my only goal was living a perfect high school life with the school madonna. Don't you remember?" Yuu said.

"Then, you like her more than me, right?! Hmph! What a jerk!" Nao said in jealousy.

"No, it's not like that. But I think you didn't have to trick her like that." Yuu said.

"Why is that?" Nao asked.

"It's because that time you have known that I love you." Yuu said.

"Ah, is it a joke or what? Because I didn't feel like to laugh." Nao said sarcastically.

"It's not a joke! It's real!" Yuu said.

"But you said that you wanted to have a perfect high school life with the school madonna, which I'm not!" Nao talked him back.

"Uuuurghhh!" They growled at each other like cats that were going to fight with each other.

After they growled at each other, they laughed together. To be honest, they loved every single time they argue. They felt more and more connected by arguing with each other. It has become a habit that could not go away for years even they have been dating with each other for months.

"I don't know why but I feel happy when I'm arguing with you. It reminds me with you being close to me. You left me for one year, remember?" Nao said to Yuu.

"Yeah, and you waited me for one year, too." Yuu said.

"Nao…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you for waiting me. I can't imagine what would I become if you didn't wait for me. Two years ago, we met with each other. Today, I want you to remember something else." Yuu said.

"What is it?"

With no more wasting time he closed his distance with her and gave her a very first kiss of hers. It was sweet and memorable for Nao.

"Yuu-kun, thank you for everything you have done." Nao said to him while holding him closer to her.

* * *

Jojiro stood there speechless. The girl he found back then was really Ushio. He once thought to himself that he had seen her somewhere before and related it to the lost girl he invited to Ueno's okonomiyaki place. He was afraid that he was wrong so he kept silence. To be honest, Jojiro really wanted to meet this girl again and never imagined that she was this close for months. And he never imagined that the very girl he fell in love right now was the girl he found back when he was a little.

Yes, he fell in love with Ushio. Even after years working together with his idol, Yusarin, he never had a single thought to love Yusarin in a romantic way. Instead, he met Ushio in his senior year and fell in love with her. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to make sure she's alright. He wanted to be her place to lean on when she needed it. And he did promise to her father, Tomoya, to protect her and promise to Ushio herself to be her place to lean on. She gave him the warmth of a family. She gave him a place to talk. And the very last, she gave him his first kiss even he knew that she was under her bloodlust control.

Ushio gave Jojiro a smile that lit under the moonlight.

"You really are the same with Papa." She said while grinning towards him.

"Don't you want to say something, Jiro-kun?" She asked him.

Jojiro fixed his glasses position even when he knew that his glasses didn't need any repositioning. His glasses reflected the moonlight. He walked closer to Ushio step by step and slowly. He reached for Ushio's face and touched them gently. His other hand reached for Ushio's hand and held them tightly. Suddenly Ushio stole Jojiro's glasses away and saw his eyes without his glasses for the first time. She gave him a wide grin.

"Hee… You look cute without your glasses." She said between her grin.

"I bet you cannot see anything." She said again.

"No, I can see everything." He replied.

"Huh, what do you mean?" She asked.

"I can see everything of you." He said to her.

Ushio flattered with that word. She started to blush and made her cheeks red. She looked down to avoid Jojiro's eyes and hide her blush. She started to give Jojiro small fists to his chest with her free hand.

"Are you trying to flatter me?" She asked.

"I don't think…"

"If you are trying to flatter me, you are success." She cut him before he could finish what he wanted to say.

They stood there close while holding their hands together and stared at each other for a few minutes. Feeling the warmth of each other in close. Ushio gave Jojiro another grin which replied by his own.

"Ushio…" He called her.

"Hmm?"

"I just want to say that I…" Before he could finish his sentence he was cut by soft warm lips owned by Ushio herself that suddenly attacked him.

Jojiro stood there in shock but then he pulled her closer and deepened their kiss. For a few minutes they shared a long sweet and passionate kiss. They broke out from the kiss to take a breath.

"I know Jiro-kun, and I love you, too." She said and gave him another peck in his lips before let go of him and made him follows her.

"Hey, Ushio wait for me!" Jojiro yelled.

* * *

From a distance not too far away, three people were looking at them and smiled.

"How did you know that will work?" Akio asked.

"Hmph… She just had waited for too long and I said to her, just do it!" Maki said.

"And how did you get this kid's help?" Akio referred to Tomoya.

"I told Okazaki-san the situation of Ushio-chan and Takajo-senpai. He easily wanted to help me." Maki said.

"Yeah, I gave Takajo a little push earlier." Tomoya said.

"And made me and Ushio-chan apologizing twice. TWICE." She pointed out.

"Gee, that boy is just like you." Akio said to Tomoya.

"Is there any problem with that? Don't you remember what Sanae-san said about you and me?" Tomoya asked him back.

"Nah, I actually like that. You did tell me about his promise to protect her. Hmph… I remembered the time before Ushio was born. You stubbornly said that you will protect Nagisa-chan again and again." Akio replied.

"More than that we should make sure that Takajo-senpai didn't do anything farther than that." Maki said.

"Yeah, let's do that. Come on." Tomoya said and made them follow Ushio and Jojiro.

Don't want babies running around the house before its time, right?

* * *

ARC 2 : LONG SATURDAY – FINISH. ONE LAST ARC BEFORE THE EPILOGUE! REVIEW, FAVORITE, AND FOLLOW!


	12. Chapter 12 (ARC 3 - PART 1)

The room was dark and cramped. The walls were dirty with his blood painted on every single side. The cement floor was tainted with his blood, teeth, and nails. Every parts of his body screamed for blood loss he suffered. Anytime he started to fall into slumber, his face would be drowned into ice-cold water to wake him up again. The only thing he knew, he still hasn't spilled anything yet. He knew what coming next. A syringe of high-dose truth serum. He saw the syringe got close and closer in every second. Even when he could not see anything, he knew that his executioner was in front of him trying to make him talk.

"Still don't want to spill anything, huh?" The man in front of him who he assumed as the "Executioner" taunted.

"Heh… I won't tell you anything, you psycho." He said to that man.

"If you say so, then I will force you to spill it. Do it, doctor." He commanded.

With that command, the person he assumed as the "Doctor" injected the serum forcefully into his system. He tried to revolt against the serum but he couldn't as he was tied into the chair tightly.

"UUUUUUUAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHH…." His grunt echoed in this dark and bloody dark room.

The last thing he remembered was a heartwarming beauty of a girl he loved most.

"U… shi… o…"

* * *

"Congratulations, Ushio-chan! You are this school's number one for this mid-term test. I wonder why I could not get the first place." Maki said to her friend beside her desk.

"But you are this school's number two, Maki-kun. It's a freaking achievement for you." Ushio said to her.

"Thanks to you my score is now far better than before I met you." Maki said.

"You are a smart girl but you really need someone or something to keep you out from lazing around and not studying." Ushio said and turned herself to see out of the window.

"It's not lazing around, it's just an act of tired for something. And I could not find any better tutor than you." Maki said to flatter Ushio.

"Yeah, and you successfully made me tutoring you by making a pool of drool on my desk or sneaking into my room from your balcony." Ushio said to Maki.

"Oh, come on, Ushio-chan. If it's not because of me, you and Takajo-senpai won't be together, right?" Maki teased.

"Huft… Fine. You win." Ushio sighed.

"RIIIIIIING!" The lunch bell was ringing outloud.

"That's the lunch bell! Come on! I'll treat you something nice! The limited edition beef tongue curry! Because I want to celebrate your achievement, I will pay for them all. I know that you were waking up late this morning until you forgot your lunch." Maki said and grabbed Ushio's wrist.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, Maki-kun. Just let go of my hand and I will follow you behind." Ushio stood up from her desk.

"No, I won't let go of your hand. You will get away and run to your beloved prince, Takajo-sama. This time, it's just two of us. Let's say a girls only day." Maki said and forced Ushio to follow her.

"Girls only day? Such a feminine term for Maki-kun. What have you done to her, huh?" Ushio teased her.

"STOP IT YOU JERK!" Maki denied only replied by Ushio's laughter.

* * *

"Have any reports about it?" Nao asked Shiki.

"No, I have not Tomori-senpai. We lost contact with him since last night. I believe we have been discovered and he was captured by the enemy." Shiki said.

"Damn, I should have not let him doing it!" Nao slammed her desk as she regretted her decision.

"You can't blame this on yourself, Nao. He was the one who volunteer." Yuu said.

"But we cannot blame him! He's the one out there in danger!" Nao said.

"How about Okazaki-san? Yusarin knows that Okazaki-san still don't know anything about this. Even his mission." Yusa said to her.

"I have tasked Maki-kun to distract her for a while. But after that, I don't know what to do. I don't want this news ruin her campaign for next student council president." Nao said in honest.

"Sooner or later, she will realize this by herself, Nao. We have to do something to save him or at least make him back online." Yuu said.

Nao leaned on her chair and gave a stern look to everyone.

"Let me think about our next strategy. Leave me alone with Yuu-kun for a while. The rest of you are dismissed. I don't want Okazaki-san become suspicious." Nao said to dismiss Shiki and Yusa.

Shiki and Yusa left Yuu and Nao alone in the student council room. Yuu started to walk closer to Nao and sat on her desk.

"Want to talk about it?" Yuu asked her.

Nao gave him a nod and let a heavy sigh as she still blamed herself for what happened.

"I should not have let him do this dangerous mission. Now there will be two people that will be hurt just because of my poor decision. Him and Okazaki-san. I felt responsible for this Yuu-kun." Nao said to him.

"He will be alright. He's the best from us anyway and I'm sure he will come back for us. And for Okazaki-san. After all, he's doing this for her safety." Yuu said to her girlfriend.

Nao leaned herself to Yuu and listened to his heartbeat. Yuu placed his arms around her to make her safe and comfortable.

"Don't worry, Nao. Okazaki-san is a strong girl. I bet that when she finds out she will standing strong and keep moving forward." Yuu said.

"Or she will go for a suicide mission to safe him. Who knows?" Nao said.

"Okazaki-san is not an idiot, Nao. Even she is the number one for the recent mid-term examination. She will think about this clearly and as smart as she could. Trust me." He said to comfort her.

"But I really have a very bad feeling about this." Nao said and ended their conversation.

* * *

"Okazaki-senpai, right? Congratulations for being this school's number one for the latest mid-term examination. Here's a present for you! Don't worry! I will always devoted to you!" A freshman boy said and gave Ushio a small present.

"Thank you!" Ushio said to him.

"Yo, Maki-kun-senpai! I heard you are this school's number two. Congrats!" That boy said again before he left.

"Yeah, thank you." Maki said to that freshman.

"Looks like your campaign is going very well. I could see everyone in this school starts to respect you and adore you." Maki said.

"Thanks Maki-kun. You know, Jiro-kun have a great deal of helping me with the campaign. He…"

"Okay, stop. I'm starting to regret my decision to make Takajo-senpai and you together. I should have a boyfriend or something so I could annoy you with my boyfriend stories." Maki said.

"Maki-kun? A boyfriend?" Then Ushio let out an uncontrollable laugh that made Maki feel shame and blush at the same time.

"Okazaki-san! You are so cool! Here's a present for the recent examination result. Good luck on next week's election!" Another boy showed up and gave her a present.

"Well, thank you!" Ushio said to him.

"Yow! Maki-kun! You are this school's number two, right? You really are showing your hardwork!" The boy said before leaving the two of them.

"Yeah, thanks for your compliment." Maki said to that boy.

Maki gave a deep stare to a mountain of presents Ushio got and stared sadly at her empty hands. She let out a heavy sigh and placed her hands behind her head.

"How come you get so many presents when I got none?" Maki said.

"It's called effort, Maki-kun. You should show some more effort." Ushio said cheerfully.

"I just want a present." Maki mumbled to Ushio and replied by Ushio's laugh.

"Okazaki-senpai! Maki-kun-senpai!" Someone was calling for them.

"Uoh! Fujimaki-san! Long time no see! And what's up with that get up?" Maki said to Fujimaki.

Fujimaki was wearing his uniform as usual but what made them different was he wore a long lab coat on it.

"This? I love to wear this! There's no school regulation that ban you to wear this anywhere, right Miss Student Council Member?" He said referring to Maki.

"As long as I remember, there is no such regulation as long you wear your uniform properly." Maki said to Fujimaki.

"Ah, yeah! This is for Miss Student Council Member. And this is for Miss Student Council President Candidate. I have heard that the two of you reaching the top of this school mid-term examination score. So, I decided to give you gifts to congratulate the two of you." He handed Maki and Ushio presents.

"And I wish you good luck on the election next week, Okazaki-senpai." He said to Ushio.

"Thank you, Fujimaki-san. How could I repay this?" Ushio asked.

"Win the election! That's for sure! Goodbye senpai!" He said before leaving.

"Wait, Fujimaki-san! Want to hang out in the arcade after school with us? We will go to one after school." Maki asked.

"That's great! I will be waiting at school's gate, okay? See you later, senpai!" Fujimaki left them.

Ushio gave Maki a death glare. If Maki and she went to arcade, it was definitely the day when Maki will crash at her room and slept on her couch. Again.

"What? I was going to invite you when we arrive at the class." Maki defended herself.

"By the way, congratulations for your first present of your achievement!" Ushio said to her while giving her a huge grin.

"Uhm. Yeah. Thanks." Maki said while trying with all of her effort to act cool and ended up with blush across her face.

"Gihi… Is Maki blushing? What have I done to Maki-kun? She has turned herself into a feminine being!" Ushio teased her loudly.

"GAH… STOP IT YOU JERK!" Maki gave Ushio a fist to her head.

* * *

He slowly opened his hurting eyes. The room still dark as ever. He wasn't sitting and tied to a chair anymore. He felt his arm stretched as far as they could. He could feel the pain in his wrists. He finally he realized his position. He was hanging with a rough rope tying his wrists. The gravity tried to pull him to the ground but the rope on his wrists holding him from the temptation of gravity. He was a little grateful that they didn't left him upside down. He could feel that he still got his shirt and his pants on but he knew that anytime soon his shirt would tore apart and left him topless and unprotected. In the dark he could blurry see his glasses cracked on the blood red ground.

"What have I said to them?" He thought to himself.

"Is she safe?"

"Or is she in danger?" His train of thought would not stop.

"Hmm? Are you mumbling something kid?" A man with deep voice said. He assumed that was the "Executioner" voice.

"Are you going to spill that girl's location? What was her name again? Okazaki Ushio?" The "Executioner" said walked close to him.

"I have searched your apartment and found no clue of her." From that words, he knew that he already spilled an information about where did he live.

Afraid to spill anything else, he shut his mouth even further. He wanted to keep her save and whatever he did he must keep silent or at least avoid telling Ushio's location. If he told them about her, he surely had failed protecting her. The "Executioner" took a whip from his chair and started to whip him.

"Will you talk now?!"

"HRRGHH!" He tried as hard as he could to keep his mouth shut.

Whip after whip was sent to his back and his chest. The last whip was powerful enough to tear his shirt and made them fell to the ground. He could clearly something in his shirt pocket was making a heavy sound when touching the ground.

"What is that?" The "Executioner" took something from the remains of his shirt.

The "Executioner" smiled as he saw what he found. It was photo of Ushio with Jojiro that was taken recently on a date before he went for this mission. The "Executioner" showed him the photo and made a devilish smile.

"Still don't want to talk?" He reached his pocket for a lighter.

"You think you can keep her safe, huh? Well, I don't think so because slow or fast she will come to me. And when she did…" He burned the photo in front of the hostage's eyes.

"I will make her suffer and I will make sure you are watching every second of it."

* * *

A huge stuffed turtle (or tortoise?). Yeah, Ushio brought back a huge stuffed turtle (or tortoise?) after spent the day with Maki. They didn't just go to an arcade, Maki decided to take Ushio to a batting center which ended up in a batting match between The Bastard Hitter and Hikarizaka's Legendary Player. Of course they both scored a homerun and they brought home two stuffed turtles (or tortoises?). After the match was over, The Bastard Hitter and Hikarizaka's Legendary Player decided for another temporary truce again.

When Ushio was unlocking her room door, Maki already leaned on Ushio's back. Ushio knew that Maki was getting ready to fall on her couch. When Ushio opened the door, Maki suddenly flied to Ushio's couch and slept there in a second. Ushio let out a heavy sigh before searching for a blanket for Maki. Ushio knew that she must wake Maki up early in the morning or they would be late. She found a blanket for Maki and covered her with the blanket.

Ushio then went to the bathroom for a hot relaxing bath. Ushio noticed this since when they arrived at the arcade. Maki was fully strange. Not because her recent feminine development but because she kept distracting Ushio from contacting Jojiro. Was she jealous because she was spending too much time with Jojiro? Or was she jealous because she had a little time with Jojiro after Ushio and Jojiro officially dating? She laughed at herself when the thought came across her mind. But then she noticed that was really out of Maki's character until she wanted to distract Ushio from contacting Jojiro. Maki wasn't the type who likes to meddle with any other person's business. Why she bothered distracting Ushio from Jojiro?

When Ushio noticed that something was wrong, she immediately got out from her bath and rinsed quickly. Because the weather was starting to get hot and humid, she decided to change into tank-top and shorts. She wanted to ask Jojiro really bad about what's going on with Maki or with him. Not because she was jealous (or she was denying about that) but because she noticed if Maki has done something out of her character, there must be something going on. She took a deep breath before she walked to her balcony. When she got to the balcony, she found no one in Jojiro's balcony. That was a little bit strange since they have a habit to meet each other here if Maki crashed at Ushio's couch.

"Jiro-kun…"

* * *

He suddenly woke up from his uneasy slumber after he heard her voice calling for him. But he knew that must be not possible. He realized that everything was upside down for him. He felt blood rushing to his head quickly. His head was going to explode in any second. He closed his eyes trying to lessen his pain.

"Is it the day?"

"Is Maki-kun crashed at her place again?"

"Is she waiting for me in the balcony?" His train of thoughts started to make him relaxed as he knew that she must be waiting for him.

"U… shi… o…" He mumbled her name quietly while he could feel a trail of blood exiting through his nose and fell to the ground.

* * *

It's been half an hour and Jojiro still didn't come out from his room. She felt something wrong with him. Was he sick? No, he must be not. She still met him yesterday when going on a date with him and he was fine and healthy. But that was in the afternoon, how if he collapsed in the night? She started to feel uneasy. But Maki was the one who distracted her from Jojiro.

"Jiro-kun? Are you sick? Are you alright?" She asked to the balcony next to her and got no answer.

She felt more and more uncomfortable. She entered her room and took her jacket to cover herself. She went to the front door and exited her room. She rang Jojiro's room bell. The bell was ringing out loud but nobody came out from his room. She started to knock his door and still received no answer from anyone. She started to bang the door loudly. She started to believe that no one inside. She tried to open the door and surprised to see that the door war carelessly unlocked. She raised her alertness. She knew there was something happened to Jojiro.

"Jiro-kun? Are you there?" She slowly opened his door and shocked to see whole of his apartment room was in a mess like someone just been there searching for something.

"Jiro-kun?" She started to feel uneasy about this situation.

She entered his room to look for Jojiro. The rooms were completely a mess but no one was there even the owner himself. She opened every door and looked in every nook and cranny of Jojiro's room for any clue about his missing.

"Jiro-kun? Where are you?" She started to feel her blood boils.

She could not think straight anymore. Her heart could not accept that Jojiro was gone and she definitely sure that someone was taken him away.

"No… no… he was with me yesterday. No, it's not possible that he is gone." She said to herself.

"Ushio-chan…?" From the doorstep, Maki was there standing in shock.

Maki could not believe that someone actually searching for clue of Okazaki Ushio's location in Jojiro's apartment. And the worst part was Ushio is the one who found out about this first. Her task to distract Ushio was failed in that time. She knew that for sure. Ushio then gave a glare to Maki who was standing in front of the doorstep. Her eyes were completely in blood red color. She has an intention to kill in it. Ushio walked closer to Maki in a quick pace. Quick enough to reach Maki before Maki escaped from her. Ushio grabbed Maki's collar and slammed Maki's head to the nearest wall powerful enough to hurt Maki but not strong enough to make Maki unconscious.

"WHERE IS JIRO-KUN?!"

* * *

ARC 3 : BLOODLUST - TO BE CONTINUED


End file.
